


Mass Effect Andromeda: Phoenix

by AndromedaMistwalker



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Shadowrun
Genre: Abduction, Alien Sex, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Elf, Alternate Universe - Shadowrun Fusion, Apex - Freeform, Arranged Marriage, Asari Characters, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Awkward Flirting, Bisexual Male Character, Character Death, Choose Your Own Character, Comedy, Decker - Freeform, Deities, Drama & Romance, Drell - Freeform, Drug Use, Drug-Induced Sex, Drugged Sex, Drunk Sex, Drunken Flirting, Duelling, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Fate & Destiny, Flirting, Forced Marriage, Forced Orgasm, Fun, Funny, Gay, Gay Sex, Hanar, Hand Jobs, Having Faith, Ki-Adept, Knitting, Krogans, Love/Hate, M/M, Makeup Sex, Male Homosexuality, Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2, Mixed Martial Arts, Multi, Multiple Partners, Non-Sexual Slavery, Novel, Outer Space, Plot, Post-Mass Effect: Andromeda, Pre-Mass Effect: Andromeda, Racism, Rape, Romance, Salarians, Same-Sex Marriage, Simultaneous Orgasm, Slavery, Threesome - M/M/M, Traditions, Turians, Vanguard (Mass Effect), Violence, angara, forced gay marriage, gay turian, rigger - Freeform, volus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:27:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 43
Words: 188,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25884322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndromedaMistwalker/pseuds/AndromedaMistwalker
Summary: NOVEL!! Many chapters incoming. :)This saga takes place about 10 years after the Ryder saga. New heroes, new enemies are coming. The quarian ark has made it to Andromeda an brought hanar, drell, volus and quarians with into the galaxy. Furthermore there is a slight merge between Mass Effect and Shadowrun. You will recoginze familiar shadowrun classes and terms.I hope you‘re gonna like it. The story is about Samuel Wolfsbane, an elven ki-adept, commander of the "Phoenix", with a great destiny, his sister, Samara Wolfsbane, aspiring emissary of humans and his very colorful an very crazy crew. And the space dachshund Tiberius.This novel contents homosexual love! Also violence, battles, drama, action, sex with mature content, many adventures, martial arts and comedy. I‘m not a native speaker so my English isn‘t that excellent. Now enjoy! :)Angaran words by Bioware and amazing wonderful MyrddinDerwydd:Angaran Expansion ProjectTurian words by awesome Kim E. Bradshaw:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qZSnmfVbJW9BzAHjmNnrN3NmeEj6RmBYOPQbjC21CjI/editDrell words by me.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1: Flatten the Waves

_Year 2795 human calendar, Heleus Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy, on board the "Phoenix", ship of the human emissary._

Samuel stared out of his quarters window into the endless void of glittering stars. The universe, as it spread out before him, lay there peacefully. Infinitely peaceful. But he knew that this silence was deceptive. Silence. He actually liked it. He often preferred it. Especially when he meditated or just wanted to be alone. But silence could not only be a state, by now he also knew that silence could have a form. For him it had taken the form of a drell. Thantos Savallian. He had become more than just a teacher, a _sha'day_ or _shaday_ , as Samuel called him, a drell and hanar word for master. One who owns another like some drell belonged to hanar once. But for them it was more teacher or patron. He loved the silence that emanated from him, the calm, even when the situation became dangerous. Thantos hardly ever lost his temper. He had become Samuel's haven of calm, the eye of the storm. More than that. He had become a brother to him, a family member. He and Samara and Thantos were a small family. That's all anybody needed, wasn't it? There were the three of them. Always. He could hardly remember the time when he hadn't known the drell and had had almost no contact with his sister. Or rather, he didn't want to remember. But often his dreams did not do him this favor.

About 10 years had passed since brave representatives of almost every race of the Milky Way and the angara had waged war against the Kett and had been successful, albeit with great losses on all sides. 

"I hope all goes well." Samuel heard a female voice sighing behind him. 

Samara had entered the room and was just about to close the buttons of a dark blue jacket with white stripes on the shoulders, part of her work clothes. She was wearing a blue top closed up to her neck and blue pants. Her feet were in black sturdy boots, which were suitable for most surfaces. Her upper body was wrapped in a half-length white coat. Blue patches were on her shoulders, from which blue lines ran down to the cuffs. Various insignia fully identified her as a diplomat and emissary of the Nexus. One of these insignia was a fake. It was an emergency transmitter that could be activated. It was given to all key personnel in the event of an attack or abduction. Samuel himself was also officially cloaked in a uniform. A pair of tight synthetic leather trousers with reinforced knees and a high-necked jacket with reinforced shoulders and elbows. An even stronger protection against bullet impacts had been worked into the back and chest. The collar was stiff at the neck and offered protection as well. Steel-reinforced boots and finally gloves with integrated material and a belt with transmitter in the buckle rounded off the outfit, which, just like Samara, wore the colours of the Nexus and thus also of the Phoenix, blue and white. It looked casual, but it wasn't. A hidden armor who didn't show his other ranks. For now he was the Protector.

When Samuel turned around, he saw Samara looking anxiously into the infinity of the universe. 

"You're going to be all right." He said and Samara looked at him.  
"I'm sure you will." he added, seeing her doubting look.  
"I don't know." She said. "Hey, anyone who can settle a clinch between an asari hunter and a salarian MP so confidently that they want to take each other to dinner, I have no doubt he can't handle this one." He interrupted her and she smiled.  
"They were really tough nuts. But I'm glad I managed to avoid a trade war." 

Samara was usually the one who would cheer Samuel up or encourage him. But when it came to diplomatic missions, he was often the one to do the talking. She was the human emissary. And she was his sister.

Samara had been sent by the Nexus' diplomatic affairs department to bridge the gap that had opened up between the species of the Milky Way and those of the Andromeda Nebula. About three and a half years ago, various factions of opponents of the former Andromeda Initiative had joined together to do exactly what had happened on the Nexus at that time: they started a revolt against the system with the goal of establishing their own "order". That's what they had called themselves: "New Order". Exactly what kind of order that was, nobody really understood until today. However, since the majority of these renegades consisted of criminals and psychopaths whose life's work was to sow chaos and violence on order, the answer to the question of what benefit they wanted to derive from this action was simple. And again, the question was: how the hell could such individuals get on the ark? What had remained open until then were the main people responsible, the masterminds behind the whole thing. In any case, unfortunately, they had actually achieved one goal: to stir up the angara's old mistrust of aliens and thus to create factions among themselves that were not green. There had been politically far-reaching consequences from the moment a group had taken angara's side, which wanted to mobilize against aliens, but wrapped this in a polite dress of diplomacy and protection of their own species. The leader of this group even allegedly caused the governor headaches.

Fortunately not all angara felt this way, many still wanted to believe in the Alliance and the peace it brought, because they had realised, as the Milky Way immigrants had done, that there was a mutual benefit to be gained. But how could one distinguish the good from the bad? How could trust be restored? Above all, how could one ensure the desired stability when an alien-hostile opposition had taken root and had been influencing political events for about a year? It was Samara's task to answer all these questions. He, Samuel, was responsible for making sure that not a hair of the envoy was harmed. He was her personal bodyguard. Initially, there had been doubts on the Nexus whether he was suitable for this position, "because of bias" had been said. But these doubts were soon dispelled. After all, who would be better suited than someone who protected someone not only because of the job and the payment, but because he was personally important to him?

"LZ in visual range. Touchdown in three minutes, 48 seconds." 

Cheen's voice was heard through the ship's speakers. Samuel heard Samara taking a deep breath next to him and saw how she seemed to have trouble putting the diplomatic badge on her lapel correctly. He turned to her and helped her. 

"You can do it. You're the best. That's why they sent you." He said softly.  
"No. They sent me because no one else had the time and they would never let a diplomat so young loose on the angara." 

Samara answered with a sigh. It was true, she was the youngest diplomat for a long time and that even included time in the Milky Way.  
"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist if you can't get these cat eyed people, nobody can, _kchchch._ " 

Suddenly, Teekoy stood between them, staring up at them through his breathing mask, carrying some kind of soda with him and a straw as usual. Teekoy Var was a volus. One of the few who had made it out of the Milky Way to Andromeda on the quarian ark. Most volus were known to have been primarily in the economic sphere of society. They traded with everything and everybody. And it was this "with anyone" in particular that had given them their dubious reputation. Teekoy was a little - different. He could negotiate, but he was more concerned with getting things going again on ships. And shooting. And doing damage against enemies. What also distinguished him was his very belligerent and aggressive behaviour, which otherwise would only be allowed to a volus when he was under the influence of drugs. Samuel often thought of a dwarf. He was rough, courageous, could fight and wanted to fight. Moreover, he often expressed himself as anything but chosen, which especially displeased Tiran Suvay, the hanar of the Phoenix. Yes, there was a hanar. One wo survived the kryo. It was therefore not surprising that the two often clashed. A year ago, a legendary quarrel had once led to Teekoy manipulating the hanar's levitation pack, whereupon Tiran had flown uncontrollably through the ship like a released balloon whose end had not been knotted. Tiran had then tried to kill the volus with his own toxins. In the meantime, one could smile about it. At that time it had been anything but amusing. They had all travelled with the quarian ark after the previous arks. Had made it out of the Milky Way just before the Reaper invasion, if the horror stories were to be believed. The Rayya II ark had arrived on the Nexus 610 years after the other ark. And all who were part of the crew of the Phoenix had been awakened from cryosleep for about five years now. They all did some jobs, have been somewehere on the Nexus or on Meridian. Most of the crew members already knew each other through missions or because they had accompanied the diplomat or steered her former ship. But this relatively large crew had only existed for about a year.

"Your word in Arashu's ear." Samara responded to Teekoy's "pep talk"

The Phoenix settled like a giant steel bird of prey on the assigned landing platform and opened its long beak to release the passengers. At the top of the ramp stood Samara Wolfbane and behind her Samuel Wolfsbane. It was suitable to go only in pairs while the rest of the crew would wait on board. Below, on the reception plateau, stood a vanguard of armed angara soldiers. Behind them, on a staircase, was a festively dressed angara, awaiting the arrival of the emissaries. "Here we go." Samara whispered and moved with dignity. Samuel, in the light armor of the bodyguard, also wearing the emblem of the Nexus' diplomatic department on his collar, followed her silently down the ramp.

Professor Saraan de Kanos, curator of the Repository of History, stood once again in front of one of the artifacts and stared at it, hoping it would tell him what it knew and what it was good for. Protected behind a thin but stable force field, an object in the shape of an octahedron was placed on a pedestal. Symbols had been engraved on seven of the eight sides. By now he at least knew that the symbols could be the ancient language of the Jardaan. Everything he had found out, however, was largely based on speculation. And he didn't have the time to study the relic in detail. The resistance still needed him. Although the kett might have kept their feet still for nearly ten years now, that didn't mean they couldn't resurface again. There were also rumors of new enemies, not unlike Kett. Possibly another mutation of this? So far, however, they had only been rumors. And then there were the troublemakers from the Milky Way who had made a successful attack on Moshae Sjefa three years ago. Mostly humans had been involved. He had always suspected that they could not be trusted. He did not like them. And that was putting it mildly. 

"Shouldn't you go and see the governor?" 

There was a familiar voice behind him. Dr. Tshony ja Varuhn had come to see him. She was a medical officer and the leading force in the hospital here in Aya. They had been friends for a very long time. 

Saraan looked at her, "should I?" His question seemed to confuse her.  
"The human emissary arrives in Aya today to meet with the governor. Therefore, as the deputy leader of the resistance, shouldn't you be present as well?“  
Saraan suppressed a snort. "I'm sure if the governor needs my presence or support, she'll send for me." He replied.  
"You still do not respond well to aliens." Varuhn stated truthfully. 

He could not speak out against that. He didn't want to, because it was the truth. He wasn't a Roekaar, or as the new grouping now called itself, Roeshaar, but he didn't like them. He especially didn't like humans. They were unpredictable, untrustworthy and quickly turned to crime and violence. At least, that's how he had experienced them until now.

"Let's talk. Privately in my office." Said the governor looking at Samara. Her face was neutral, her voice quiet, the tone polite, but it was clear she didn't want Samara's bodyguard present. Samuel gave the emissary a quick glance.  
"Of course, governor." She said without hesitate and turned to Samuel.  
"I'll get back to you later, Protector." Samuel nodded at his sister and once again indicated he was going to bow to the governor. The governor nodded and turned around, already on the way to Aya city centre. Samara whispered to her brother once more:  
"I heard that the Repository of History is very interesting". 

Then she also followed the angara. Samuel couldn't help smiling fleetingly as he looked after his sister. Sweet. She wanted him to keep busy, not be bored. And most importantly, to make sure he was no trouble. Or get into. The latter of which he could rarely control. Samuel called up the route that would lead him to the Repository of History, taking off his Nexus badge and moved leisurely. He probably had more time than he wanted now. He was absolutely not used to that. He always had something to do and was therefore always under pressure. But that was okay for him.

While he was moving through the streets of Aya, he noticed how people were looking at him. He knew these looks. Some of them were the typical suspicious glances that were given to aliens. The other glances, however, were of a different nature. But he was familiar with those, too. He was attractive. And he knew it. That sounds very arrogant, he thought to himself. But it wasn't anything but the truth. The meta-race he and his sister belonged to was usually distinguished by two things: longevity and beauty. That might not always be the rule, but besides the pointed ears, it was a main characteristic. Human beings per se no longer existed on earth in this way. To complicate matters even further between the alien races, there were not only ordinary humans on Earth, but also, in the wake of a unique event that took place in the 2040s, called goblinization, mutations that changed humans. They had suddenly grown horns or tusks. The "orcs" and "trolls" had emerged. However, almost none of these first metamorphs had survived the first wave of goblinization. With the second one, children were suddenly born who became extremely small and robust. They were called "dwarves". Other children became exceptionally beautiful and charismatic. They were called "elves". They all had this so-called meta-race, that they had weaknesses and strengths, different an ordinary human. And they all had pointed ears, one way or another. Those who didn't have those were recognized as "norm", as an ordinary human being. Since there were no more orcs and trolls and only very few dwarves and elves on earth, the number of ordinary humans naturally outnumbered the meta-humans. The journey to the Andromeda galaxy had begun with ordinary humans as well as dwarves and elves. However, no dwarf-born had survived the cryosleep and only one hundred of one thousand elven-born had survived. Among them had been Samara and Samuel.

He was one of the "elves". His face was narrow, his cheekbones prominent, his eyes shimmered in a colour that was often called white like a diamond, his features were very fine, his lips sensual. He was of slim but muscular stature. He had the figure of a fighter who had made his body a weapon. The most striking thing about him was probably his hair colour: it was snow-white. His eyebrows, however, were thick and black. He was extremely handsome. His sister loved to say: "ridiculously handsome". On top of that he was an elegant dancer and could sing quite passably. Reason enough for many to hate him. At least, that's the way it had often been on Earth in the past. Samara had often told him that not only women but also a lot of guys were looking after him. He didn‘t mind because he was bisexual. Even more in men. And what did she actually want? She looked beautiful, too. Both of them. Over the many years that had passed, being together with Thantos Savallian and training with him, Samuel had also learned to move elegantly like a cat of prey. And all this attracted the attention of the world. But he had to admit that his sister was also a very good-looking girl. She had red hair, green eyes, full lips, a graceful, delicate, beautiful figure. Her smile was contagious. She knew exactly how to perform to score. At least with humans. Samuel would find out later whether the angara were able to do the same.

The Repository of History was not far from the market place of Aya, where one could buy equipment, weapons and other utensils besides local fruits. There he bought a necklace from one of the merchants who didn't look at him angrily or suspiciously, but still believed that one could trade with anyone and that not all humans or other aliens were evil. He would give it to Samara. It was a jewel, which in its raw state was mined on Elaaden and made into pretty things like this one. A symbol was engraved on the jewel. Its translator on the omnitool did not want to grasp it properly and spat out the words "depth", "friendship", "connection" and "bond", among others. He would simply tell Samara that it was a friendship chain. Or that the symbol meant "beauty" or "strength", as Chinese characters in the Milky Way on Earth are often given all kinds of multifunctional meanings. With the chain in his jacket pocket, he walked on, trying to ignore the looks he reaped incessantly. Here it was mainly suspicious looks. And he completely ignored the smile and wink of a turian.

About an hour after he had separated from Samara, Samuel entered the Museum of Angaran History and Culture. It smelled here interestingly like it was known from museums all over the world: old. If you could smell old. Stone, dust, maybe even something like electro smog was in the air. Not much was going on, here and there some angara and also one or the other Salarian stood around and looked at the preserved or rediscovered remnants of past epochs. To each relic data were available. Some were really interesting, others beautiful, like the ancient musical instrument found on Voeld, some others didn't make any sense for an alien. Samuel stood in front of a small exhibition of "artifacts" from the Milky Way, which had been handed over to the museum and thoughtfully watched a football, digging up a time when he must have been some kind of happy child. To be honest he couldn‘t remember. Had it perhaps only been an illusion? 

"You are human, aren't you? But why do you have those funny pointy ears?" 

Suddenly, a high voice came up next to him. Samuel turned his head and saw no one, only to discover a millisecond later the bearer of the voice two heads lower. An angaran child looked up at him with huge eyes. It was not that the angara didn't have big cat eyes anyway. As children they seem to be almost ridiculously large. There are more eyes than heads, Samuel wondered. Was it a girl or a boy? Samuel could not say. 

"Are you one?" The child asked again.  
"Uhm, yes. I am. So to speak. I have pointed ears because... I'm an elf." Samuel replied, still irritated by those huge green-blue eyes staring at him and not sure if the child could understand the term "elf".  
"I see. You look strange! You human elves look weird." It came back.  
"You look strange to us, too." Samuel replied, not sure if he wanted to have this conversation. He decided to go on. He had to know one thing first:  
"Are you a boy or a girl?" 

The angara child looked at him without understanding and Samuel feared that the translation program of his omnitool had not been able to choose the correct terms. But the child's irritation was based on another statement.

"Of course I am a boy, you can see that!“ Samuel left it at that.  
"What is your name?" Asked the boy.  
"Samuel Wolfsbane.“

Samuel, with his 1.75m neither very tall nor very small but still smaller than many an angaran man, saw it as his duty to walk at eye level with such an unusually small angara and squatted down so that the child surpassed him by a bit. 

"Laruhn al Vidas!" replied the little angara boy. "What does your name mean?". 

Samuel had to admit that he didn't really know. He thought. He knew it had a biblical meaning. Laruhn, for instance, meant "the Bright One" or "the Shining One" as he told him. Laruhn was full of curiosity and Samuel came to the conclusion that children were always children, no matter what planet or galaxy you were on. And even mothers seemed to be the same as everywhere else.  
"I'm here with my second mother because we're visiting my uncle. He works here, but I can't remember the name of the word." Said Laruhn. Samuel was about to suggest "curator" to him when a female angara approached them, slightly worried.

"Laruhn, you ask so many questions, the poor man is already confused!" 

Wait, was that woman defending him? Samuel looked up and their eyes met. She was a beautiful angara, if he could tell. There was a goodness in her eyes that caused Samuel a distant pain. She apologized to him. 

"No, it's all right. Thirst for knowledge is important." Samuel replied and forced himself to smile. 

It was never easy for him to smile. And not just since Thantos had instilled in him that he had to keep his emotions under control at all times. Over the years he had learned through practice and meditation to subdue his emotions and keep them under control. But sometimes he was not able to do so when anger or worry wanted to overwhelm him. The angara, on the other hand, lived out their feelings, this was known.

The friendly angaran woman introduced herself to him as Garuhna al Vidas, sister of the local curator and surprised Samuel extremely when she said, after he had told her his name: 

"Samuel Wolfsbane. Samuel was, in your earthly beliefs, a divine prophet." 

She explained to him that she was a student of the religions of various peoples. And those of the Milky Way were new to her and so diverse, she hardly knew where to begin. So she decided to start with the human beings 

"We'd be happy to talk in more detail if you'd like." Garuhna said, after a few shop talk about religions. Garuhna was friendly and open. 

And open like the angara were, she told him that Samuel was a very pleasant conversationalist and friendly alien. Laruhn obviously wanted to move on with this realization. Literally. Because suddenly he grabbed a hand of Samuel with his glove-like hands and pulled him along with him.

"You must meet uncle Saraan, Samuel, he will see that there are friendly humans, too!" He said enthusiatically.

Samuel, startled, stumbled after him while Garuhna followed with a smile. Laruhn pulled him through two halls of angaran, jardaan and kettish pieces, into a smaller side hall. There were eight pedestals, seven of which were empty. In front of the non-empty pedestal stood an angara with blue and white skin. From eyes as bright blue as sapphires, he looked thoughtfully at the artifact as Laruhns voice made him turn around. The protuberances above the cat-like eyes, which were the equivalent of human eyebrows, lifted slightly. The angara watched him. He was a whole head taller than the human. Samuel knew this look. Suspicion was the most pleasant thing he interpreted into that look. 

"Uncle Saraan. This is Samuel. He is a very friendly alien!" Laruhn looked up at his uncle and let go of Samuel's hand.  
"This is my uncle, Saraan de Kanos. Cu...curi – he manages the museum! And he is very intelligent, that‘s why he‘s a processor." So the kid was taking the curator's performance against his will.  
„He is a professor, Laruhn.“ Garuhna helped him amused. 

Samuel looked up from Laruhn to Professor de Kanos. The eyes of angara and man met as Samuel slowly straightened. For a moment, time froze, as if a film had been paused at this point. Samuel knew nothing to do with it. He wondered if the angara had felt that too? Samuel tried to find the answer in the shimmering sapphires. They were enthralling him. But the curator's reaction quickly made him forget the fascination. The angara lowered his eyes to the child. 

"Laruhn, be careful with them. Humans are often not what they seem." His voice was so deep. Calming. Only the wording didn't want to match that feeling. Samuel had already put up a defence:  
"We are not all the same." He said.  
"Of course not." He said. Saraan replied coolly. "Whatever you say." He spoke softly. Maybe it was better to leave. So Samuel turned to Garuhna, who had stepped beside him.  
"I... should go. It was a pleasure to meet you." 

He thought he recognized a trace of disappointment in their eyes, but didn‘t want to ask for another meeting. Not in the presence of the other angara. Samuel left the museum. And although Saraan had treated him so unkindly, he could not forget the moment when they looked into each other's eyes. What was that? With this question he even forgot Garuhna for a while.

Saraan asked himself exactly the same question about an hour after his sister had left the museum with his nephew. What had been that strange feeling that had crept up on him when he had looked into the eyes of this person? He could see them clearly again, those nearly white eyes before the white of the eyeballs, as people possessed them. Diamonds like shining raindrops on the plants of Havarl in the dawn. He had already seen some humans. And so he could tell the difference between beautiful and ugly. And this one had been a beautiful person. But he was a human. What was it that he felt? Saraan decided to put this encounter behind him. for now.

Samara had had a successful conversation. At least that's what she told Samuel. They had talked extensively and had come to the conclusion that further talks would help communication. In plain language, this meant that they had sniffed each other out, had not jumped at each other's throats and had been open to further meetings. For the emissary this was good. She would probably spend more time in the governor's office in the coming days. The crew returned into orbit and left the emissary and her bodyguard on Aya. For Samuel this meant that he only saw his sister in the evening and otherwise had to watch him killing time. Fucking boring days ahead. He could not sit all day in the Tavetaan hoping that his sister would need him. He probably would go for many strolls in the Aya forests. Fortunately Samara had managed to get him a permit to watch the resistance in their training grounds. The teams were good, mostly well coordinated and perfect in communication, the maneuvers well thought out. The captain of the team was always impressive. He mastered every danger and obstacle so easily that the others often seemed like first-timers by comparison. He could watch, but he was not allowed to participate. Anyway, at least that was interesting. And one day it became even more interesting. An explosion had wounded one of the fighters of team Havarl who was now lying on the ground screaming. The squad members were with him immediately and the captain took off his helmet when he reached the wounded. Samuel, who had previously supported his forearms on the railing and remained in a bent position, stood up when he realized who was hiding under the helmet and had been fighting and maneuvering so masterfully the whole time. The curator, professor de Kanos, was the captain. So he fought in the resistance. Samuel could not understand what was said down in the hall because the hall was too wide and the angara spoke in their language. But it was professor Kanos who gave orders. The wounded man was quickly lifted by two comrades and brought out of the hall between the containers. Obviously this had not been part of the maneuver. Samuel looked briefly at the three fighters. When he turned his head, he saw that Prof. Kanos looked straight up at him and fixed him. His stomach cramped up as their eyes met and bored into each other despite the distance. Samuel felt uncomfortable. Professor de Kanos might as well have aimed a sniper at him. But then the squad captain turned around and disappeared between the containers. Samuel looked after him.

"Samuel, have you been listening to me?"

Asked Samara that night. He hadn't listened to her. His mind had returned to Saraan Kanos. And the way he had looked up at him. He was still unsure what that look meant. Should he ask him? Nonsense. When he had noticed where his thoughts had drifted off to, he had started a debate with himself about why he had allowed and executed these thoughts - these emotions. Nonsense! He pushed them aside and looked at his sister. 

"I'm sorry, what?" Samara gave him a look of punishment.  
"Where are you with your thoughts?" He waved and used those seconds to remember.  
"So another two days, and then we're going back to the Nexus?" She nodded.  
"Good." He sighed. 

To be honest, he was happy to be back on the Nexus for a while or to travel through orbit with the Phoenix. In fact, he was looking forward to seeing his crazy crew again. As different as they all were, they belonged together. Above all, without Thantos, her small family consisting of him, Samara and the Drell, was not complete. Abandoning Aya was pleasant on the one hand, but on the other hand it left a strangely stale feeling in him, which he didn't know how to classify. Thus, as if he had once walked around the command center on the Nexus, he returned to the beginning of his thoughts: the curator, who obviously was more than that. He wanted to question him about angaran combat tactics. Amongst other things.

The day before they had planned to return to the Nexus, Samuel took another trip through the city. His destination was the museum where he suspected the angaran fighting curator. He was not mistaken. The professor stood again in the almost empty small hall, which had not been accessible for expositions before, and examined the only artifact there, when Samuel approached quietly. He stopped in the archway of the previous hall and waited. De Kanos did not seem to have noticed him, and so Samuel had time to memorize the appearance of the other. He still had difficulty determining the age of an angara, unless it was a small one like Laruhn. De Kanos could be about his age, or perhaps older. Even for an angara, he was extremely tall, at least two metres or more. Samuel noticed the jewellery he was wearing. On his left eyebrow and on the edge of the protuberances of his neck, he wore gold shimmering rings. Samuel just looked at him for quite a while without making himself noticed and did not know why he did so. Then suddenly Professor de Kanos spoke. 

"Have you stared enough?" 

Samuel felt boiling hot blushed slightly. He cleared his throat softly and lowered his eyes as he answered.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to disturb you. You seemed so lost in thought." How long had de Kanos known he was here? It was kind of embarrassing now. Slowly, he took a few steps closer. "Is this gonna be a new exhibition?"  
"It already is. Even though there's only one exhibit here so far." De Kanos replied. 

Samuel took a quick look at the artifact. Though it was not what he had come for. And yet, that brief look became a longer look. Then a closer look. He pulled his dark eyebrows together and stepped closer. A feeling of recognition spread through him. A whisper sounded as he approached the object. It was as if a voice whispered to him. A very quiet singing. A melody? He did not understand the language. He was drawn to the object, an octahedron. Somewhere he had seen the thing before. Why did he hear voices? Where did they come from? The chant became a bit louder.

Suddenly he felt a big hand grab his shoulder and pull him back. All of a sudden, the whispers stopped. Surprised, he looked back. Professor de Kanos had pulled him away from the artifact. He looked angry, but equally irritated. 

"Didn't you hear me?" Samuel looked uncomprehendingly at the curator.  
"Yes, there is only one exhibit here," you said. The angara raised an eyebrow.  
"Afterwards I said not to touch the artefact, especially if no one knows what it is or what it can do." Samuel was confused.  
"I didn't hear that. I'm sorry." He replied. "There was just..." he took one last look at the octahedron, then shook his head softly. "Nevermind. I'm actually here because I'm very impressed with your fighting skills. You're really good." He said,  
"You've been training for a long time, haven't you?"  
"I've been fighting for a long time." De Kanos fixated him.  
"How do you have time to be curator of the museum and fight for the resistance?"  
"You just find the time. When I am called, I am there." 

The professor left the small hall and Samuel followed him. Not much was known about the organisational structure of the resistance until today. But in the meantime they were working with APEX and the Nexus. Recent events, however, had unfortunately left the Alliance just as untouched. Teams from Milky Way and angara had difficulties to cooperate with each other, which had already led to disasters several times. Samuel did not expect Kanos to tell him much. Nevertheless, he asked him questions and surprisingly received answers. For example, that De Kanos had been with the resistance for more than eight years now and had temporarily taken over the administration of the museum, for the actual curator, who had not been on duty for three years due to family matters. So there was also something like maternity substitution in this cluster. The cheeky little angaran boy Laruhn was in fact his nephew, Garuhna his sister. De Kanos was surprisingly forthcoming for the fact that he didn't seem to like humans. Nevertheless, Samuel decided not to pester him too much. After he had heard about Garuhna, he stopped asking. At that very moment no one less than Garuhna approached them. 

"Saraan, dear brother." She greeted him with an embrace. 

Samuel knew that angara liked to do that. Garuhna looked at Samuel and her purple and blue eyes lit up.

"It's good to see you, Mr. Wolfsbane.“ Samuel was in the habit of making a owing, and Garuhna's smile grew wider.  
"You are a very polite, handsome alien." She said. Samuel showed an embarrassed, weak smile as he straightened up.  
"Oh, just habit." 

Garuhna turned to her brother, who was looking, or rather watching Samuel.  
"What do you think about coming with me to Tavetaan? I'll buy you a quiloa tea." Professor de Kanos didn't seem to mind. But in her next words, she subtly derailed the two men's features. She looked at Samuel again.

"Why don't you come along and we can get to know you better?" The young adept thought he'd made a mistake. But Garuhna must be serious. Samuel didn't have to look at her brother to realise that he was not at all taken with the idea.  
"I do not want to disturb you two." he spoke a little helplessly at the angara woman's disarming smile.  
"Not at all." Now Samuel looked up at the curator who crossed his arms at his chest. To Samuel, a clear gesture of rejection.  
"Perhaps some other time, Miss al Vidas. Your brother might eat me alive." It just slipped out. „I – I‘m sorry.“ Saraan narrowed his eyes slightly. Samuel didn‘t know why he had said this. Better to disappear now. However there was a surprise when Saraan said:  
"You can come with us." Saraan said calmly.

A little later the three of them were sitting in the bar Tavetaan. Garuhna had chosen a place from which one could look over the landscape of Aya. Garuhna had got up and gone to the bar. To get drinks, she had said. Samuel sat diagonally opposite Saaran at the table. Because the Angara had fallen silent again, Samuel had started to look at the landscape. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Lush forests, beautiful flowers, slender rocks several meters high, iridescent waterfalls. Samuel had turned his head and leaned on the palm of one hand. He constantly found a new sight he could hardly tear himself away from. And yet he could. For he felt Saraans gaze rest on him. And so he looked at him again. Again this strange feeling came up in him, bored into the pit of his stomach and spread to his chest as he looked into the sapphire blue eyes of the angara. 

"Aya is simply beautiful. I think I could wander these woods for hours." Said Samuel in a subdued tone. For once, Saraan seemed open-minded about it. He nodded.  
"I do that whenever I can. But it's a rare thing. And since your kind camps in the woods, even more rarely." Samuel sensed a hint of anger at Saraans dismissive words, but he held it in.  
"Your kind? I'm not like them. We're trying to restore positive relations." He replied, softly, to ease the tension.  
"Everyone said so. So did the Kett once." Samuel found it increasingly difficult to suppress the rage that was building up inside him.  
"We are not the kett! The emissary and the Nexus are trying to make that clear." Saraan seemed distant.  
"I don't think you're up to it. The attack on the Moshae is unforgivable."  
"Is that why you hate everyone you meet? That's pretty prejudiced. There are bad people even among the Angara." Did it break out of Samuel now, even though he still spoke softly. He saw anger now flashing in Saraans eyes.  
"Not as bad as yours." He growled softly. 

The conversation drifted off in a very unfavorable direction. Samuel clenched his teeth tightly together, lowered his eyes and reflected. Anger was wrong. Always. But often so hard to suppress. He decided not to give an answer anymore. Then his omnitool lit up and suddenly solved the emotional dilemma. The display started flashing red. He was instantly focused and forgot the conversation. 

"What does it mean?" Saraan asked with suspicion in his voice.  
"An emergency from the emissary." He rose from his seat. "I have to go." 

Garuhna came back at that moment with two of probably three drinks and looked at Samuel with a questioning expression. "Excuse me, Ms. Al Vidas, I have to go. It's an emergency.“ Garuhna's face became troubled.  
"What is...“ Without thinking, Samuel slipped her a reasonable amount of credits for the drinks, including tips.  
"I'm sorry. We'll talk another time." He managed to bow down, nodded at Saraan and left the bar at a steady pace, followed by the gaze of the two angara.

Fortunately, Samara had agreed at the time that her omnitool would sound the alarm and indicate her current navpoint, when danger threatened. Jake Goodwin, the scientist and decker advised her to do so and installed all the monitoring programs. She had had doubts because she had not wanted Goodwin to spy on her. That he liked the emissary was an open secret like Varius having a slight crush on the commander. However, he had never actually spied on her. Maybe sent her a few flirty messages every now and then. Samara never activated the emergency program of her omnitool for no reason, which immediately was sent to Samuels omnitool. Something had happened. She was in danger and there was nothing and no one more important than her besides Thantos for Samuel. He stared at his omnitool, which was still glowing red and showing him the way while he hurried through the streets, trying to move as unobtrusively as possible so as not to give the impression of a thief on the run. The navpoint was not far from the lower docks. What in the three God‘s names was she doing there?

Samuel ran the last bit to the indicated place when he did not suspect any of the guards or the resistance to be near. Staircases led down. Moist air, musty from rotting leaves, brushed against his face as he jumped down some stairs into deeper areas of the city that were rarely or never used. The air became warmer, stuffier, metallic smelling. The underground of the city, where people who lived upstairs rarely went. Older buildings came to the surface. This area used to be completely deserted. Samuel rushed down the alleys. What the hell was Samara doing down here?! Gunshots rang out. Samuel stopped breathing. Then he ran even faster and was tempted to use his ki-powers. He finally reached the navpoint. It was some kind of a backstreet. At first sight he could make out four armed angara. A salarian laid on the ground. Samuel could not determine whether he was dead. Then he spotted Samara. She cowered on the wall, next to a female angara and stared with eyes wide open in shock into the bull barrel of an Isharay. Samuel did not hesitate for a second. He jumped out of his cover and summoned his ki-powers. He immediately felt the overwhelming energy flowing through his mind and body, stronger than ever before in the Milky Way and in an instant he was with Samara and the angaran woman, who screamed out when a shot ripped the air. His hand shot out faster than the bullet the angara had fired and caught it inches from his sister's forehead. Hot and painful, the bullet burned through the glove into his skin, but he ignored it. The angara stared at the elf with a stunned expression. The other three were also flabbergasted for some seconds. They had not expected something like this and had probably never experienced it before. Samuel used the moment of surprise and grabbed the Isharay of the angara, snatched it from him and hit the weapon against his chin with all his might. The attacker rattled and fell to the ground. 

"Protector!" Samara gasped as she recognized her brother, who positioned himself protectively in front of her, now targeting the attackers with the Isharay. 

"Take cover!" he ordered her without looking at them. 

The ki still flowed through him. It wouldn‘t last long. Until then he had to act. If it ended, he would probably collapse again. Like last time. He had once undergone a small experiment and activated the ki forces under supervision. Dr. Ven'Tisa had measured time. Usually he could move in a 10-minute window of time until there were consequences and deprivation began.

He shot each of the three angaran attackers deliberately in the leg and they went down screaming. A second later hot pain burned into his shoulder and he hissed. One shot had hit him from somewhere above. So there were more of them after all. Sons of bitches. He used the next ki power, knowing that he was taking an even bigger risk. With every new ki power the risk of death became bigger. But he had to do it if he wanted to get his sister out of here alive. Protecting the emissary with his own life was his fucking job after all. He found the shooter and didn't hesitate. With the new power activated he could literally ran up the wall. Faster than the other could react, he was on the roof with him and shot. The angara collapsed. Then he heard someone screaming downstairs. He turned around and saw another angara running towards the angaran woman. Damn, how many of these assholes were actually here? Samuel wanted to shoot, but the Isharay's magazine was empty. He dropped it and without hesitation jumped from the roof he had climbed onto directly towards the attacker and rammed him to the ground with one knee, placed in his back. Quickly he stood up and looked around. Was that everyone? He looked at the angaran woman standing next to Samara with a frightened look. 

"Go…!" He gasped. 

Headaches befell him, a migraine attack that brought tears to his eyes. He staggered and grabbed his head. His sister behind him cried out in horror. He tasted blood. Blood came out of his nose. He wiped it with one glove. Then darkness began to cloud his perception. He tried to fight it, but to no avail. And then armed angara appeared again. Oh, for the three God's sake, please. 

"Sam... go...!" He shouted weakly as he fell to his knees. 

He tasted blood. It seemed to come pouring out of him. He felt someone grab him. No, don't faint, no! There was nothing he could do. Darkness enveloped him. And silence. ...nothing more.

 _Samuel stood in the rain-soaked street and stared at the burning building that he and his squad had recently blown up. He heard screams from inside, recent explosions shook the building and slowly brought it down. Fire, smoke filled the night air. He stood there like paralyzed and saw steel beams collapsing. Then a soot-smeared face, framed by red hair, appeared at a window. A young girl stared at him before the smoke devoured her._

He could hear himself scream. And then he woke up. Gasping. His heart was racing. He heard a beeping sound and in a few moments he realized it came from a vital-signs scanner his body was attached to. Slowly he began to perceive his surroundings. A hospital. The infirmary of Aya. He wanted to stand up, but found that his wrists and ankles were strapped down. What was that about? An angaran woman entered his field of vision. She examined him and entered something on a data pad. Judging by the way she was dressed, she must be some kind of doctor. 

"How are you feeling?" She asked.  
"I... don't know. Confused?" Samuel replied. His voice was rough. His throat felt dry. He was thirsty.  
"You lost a lot of blood. We were lucky to find a donor." Said the woman.  
"How long have I been here? Why am I strapped in?" He wanted to know.  
"You were in a coma for two days." That sentence hit him in the stomach like a knife. Coma again. Two days. Shit. "And you are strapped in because you have been deemed a threat." Samuel blinked at her.  
"I'm a threat even in a coma? Flattering." The angaran doctor actually loosened up a bit from her stiff posture and smiled gently.  
"The resistance is very cautious, not to say paranoid. You'll have to deal with them as soon as you feel up to it. Or probably sooner." That sounded like interrogation. Awesome.  
"Where is my-…. where is the human emissary?" He asked.  
"She is safe, as is the consul who was with her. Everything else will be explained to you by Admiral Chazre de Tershaav.“ 

Admiral Chazre de Tershaav was the younger brother and successor of Evfra de Tershaav, the previous leader of the resistance, who resigned and disappeared two years ago without any trace. Rumor has it that Evfra has retired from being a warrior and leader and lives somewhere on one of the many habitable planets in the cluster. Another rumor says that he travels through the galaxy together with the Pathfinder and his crew. Some say he died then. The fact is that he has not been seen since.

Chazre was known to be almost exactly like his brother. Or worse. And these were not pleasant prospects for Samuel. He had already learned this when two resistance fighters entered the hospital room to pick him up. They untied the bonds that had chained him to the bed, however put others on him, on hands and feet that were connected to each other. He felt he was a serious criminal, but he put up with it. At least Dr. Tshony ja Varuhn had given him something to drink. He decided not to resist and walked, more stumbling than walking through the fetters, with the two guards, still feeling dizzy and weak. 

Samuel was used to the suspicious looks. But this time they seemed even more hostile. Had it been a mistake to rescue the consul and instead take out the assailants who wanted to kill her? He seriously asked himself this question. And began to worry where he was led on. The Resistance headquarters was located just one floor above the hospital. But where he was led to was a few floors below the known quarters. An elevator definitely led too far down. A long corridor followed and finally the bodyguard of the emissary, commander of the „Phoenix“ and APEX agent was brought to a cool little room and put on a chair. There his cuffs were removed, but his wrists and ankles were strapped to the chair with metal straps. Was that really necessary? Samuel refrained from asking this question aloud. Apparently it was considered necessary. After all, he was probably a threat. 

It smelled strangely here. The room was bare and gray. There was a table in the middle. A second chair was opposite. On the floor he could see faded spots that must have been darker once. Had that been blood? Anyway it seemed to be the angaran version of an interrogation room, it crossed his mind. He did not like it at all. The restraints were stuck. He couldn't move. What was that about? What were they doing? He was left alone a few minutes with his thoughts. And a slightly rising fear. Then the door with the distinctive hissing sound opened again and an angara came in. He was almost the spitting image of Evfra de Tershaav. What distinguished him was his age - he seemed to be much younger - and a huge scar that ran across the right side of his face, affecting his eye and part of his lips. The gaze was the same cold and grumpy look that Evfra was known for. No, colder. Devastating. Hostile. Samuel knew at first sight that he had lost, by the simple fact that he was breathing. 

The angara sat wordlessly opposite Samuel at first and eyeballed him. Samuel looked back neutrally. He was a nervous but hid this without any problems. He had the opportunity to inspect the angara and noticed a small pin on his chest. He was wearing the sign of the party that had made it their policy to keep alien races out. The _Roa Valla Sjem_ had been little more than a splinter party in the cluster. But they were steadily gaining power. Their party program provided that the angara, if the alien races could not be taken out of the galaxy, would always and everywhere gain the upper hand as a controlling superior power in all matters, while non-angaran species would always be second-class and best subject to the angara. They denied that this attitude reminded them of the kett. Samuel began to doubt his chances of getting out of here with his skin intact were big. Chazre would take him apart. Literally, if he could. 

Chazre pulled out a datapad and started to speak: "according to witnesses, you took out six angaran fighters." 

His voice was not approving, but cold and condemning. According to witnesses? There had been bystanders?

"They wanted to kill the human emissary and the consul of the angaran gou-..." Samuel was abruptly interrupted.  
"Did you or did you not?" Asked Chazre sharply.  
"Yes. I did." Samuel replied. "It was necessary because..."  
"You nearly killed two of Aya's citizens."

Samuel couldn't help but look at Chazre with disbelief. He couldn't believe where this conversation was headed. The guy wanted to paint him as an attacker and a threat! If the consul had been killed by the assailants, Chazre also would have blamed him for it. Samuel was about to defend himself again when the door opened the second time and another angara entered. He was huge. His skin was almost black, almost blending with the black battle dress he was wearing. One eye was yellow, the other green. Scars ran across the green eye. He was looking at Samuel from top to bottom, like a predator looking at a piece of meat. The guy was even scarier. He wanted to get out of here. 

"I was protecting the emissary, that's my job!" He said, looking at Chazre again. Chazre looked straight at the newcomer, followed his movements briefly with his eyes, then turned back to the elf.  
"You are a danger to the public." He said.  
"What?" Gradually, the adept had trouble controlling his anger. "It doesn't matter what I say, does it? The main thing is that you can go on with your generalising hatred of aliens...urghhh...!"

A hand suddenly grabbed him from the side by his throat and squeezed the air out of him. He started to wheeze and tried to free his wrists, but he still was firmly strapped in. The black face of the second angara came within a few millimetres of his. The angara had moved around the chair to which Samuel was tied and had reappeared next to him. He squeezed so hard that Samuel thought he‘d soon lose his consciousness. He twisted and pulled his face. An almost satisfied, deadly expression spread across the angara's scarred face as he watched his victim try to break free and failed. Apparently the guy seemed to enjoy that he was in complete control of him at the moment. 

" _Jave jarevaon_ is no home for your kind, _vesagara_." He growled with a voice, incredibly raw and deep. 

Then he spoke something else in another angaran language. He squeezed even harder. Panic gradually rose in Samuel. It hurt and he had the feeling that the angara wanted to break his neck. He wanted to shout at the guy to let him go, but didn't make a sound. He tried desperately to free himself. If the situation hadn't been so unreal anyway, he would have had the impression that the black angara had made the suggestion to kiss him, that's how close he was to him. The blood rushed in his ears. He could hear Chazre saying something, but had more to do with surpress the rising panic that the breathlessness caused by the black angara's stranglehold. Samuel didn't even notice that the door opened a third time. He heard a new voice through the murmur in his ears and suddenly the black angara let go of him. Samuel sucked in the air and began to cough as he writhed before sinking into the chair. He was dizzy and his neck was aching from the hard grip. He let his head hang while he heard a third angara speak. He recognized the voice immediately. Professor Saraan de Kanos! What on earth was he doing here? 

"I'll take it from here. Chazre, Kardash.“ 

In fact, after a brief debate in a foreign language, Chazre and Kardash left the room and Samuel and Saraan were alone. Samuel raised his head a little and between the white strands of his hair, which had fallen into his face, looked hostilely at Kardash, who glanced back at him for a moment. Sadistic asshole. The two left the room.

Saraan sat down opposite him at the table and waited until Samuel was responsive again. 

"What a...!" He bit his tongue. He was able to suppress the insult despite everything.  
"Chazre hates humans. He would have gladly had you executed even if you had saved the Moshae. He didn't care that you saved the consul's life." Said Saraan. "He's completely on the side of the __Roa Valla Sjem__. And Kardash - _vehshaanan_. Well, if it was up to me, he wouldn't be here now. Unfortunately, it's not my decision alone. But my word still carries weight." 

Samuel looked up at Saraan. He didn't make that decision alone and his word carries weight? He needed to put his thoughts in order. His head ached and he still felt the hard grip of Kardash's hand around his neck. His face was slightly reddened from the pressure the grip had caused. 

"Who... is that guy?" He wanted to know.  
"Some kind of secret agent and consultant of Chazre." 

Saraan stressed "consultant" like that term didn't apply to Kardash. Saraan was watching Samuel. Those bright eyes were fascinating. But he was still suspicious. He could not find in these eyes what he had discovered in the eyes of all criminals. And he was trained to read in others. In fact, Samuel aroused interest in him. and more. This "more" made him insecure. But he did not show it. Saraan turned his eyes away. 

"Please, I'm no danger. I just wanted to protect my sister -" Samuel corrected, but the truth was expressed, "protect the emissary. And the consul." Saraan had lowered his eyes to the datapad and read a few lines before looking at Samuel again.  
"So the emissary is your sister?" Samuel nodded slowly. "That's why she was so worried and couldn't even hold back her tears." Saraan added.  
The adept sighed. "And she told me to stay out of trouble. That would've worked, actually." He said and smiled bitterly. "Are they both okay?".  
Saraan looked at the datapad again, nodding. "The consul would like to meet you to thank you." Again he read something on the pad, then asked: "is it true? They say you caught a bullet with your bare hand. Pulled it out of the air before it could hit the consul?"  
Samuel affirmed. 

Saraan, apparently impressed, looked at him searchingly. It wasn't quite sure what he thought. He finally wanted to know how this could be accomplished. Samuel had expected this. And tried as best he could to explain what ki-powers, what a ki-adept was.

"I‘m not a biotic. And also no mage. Not really a mage. In my homeworld we were called the _Awakened_. Few did survive this awakening. I‘m a physical adept. Or ki-adept. I channel powers through my body and mind. I develop powers that improve my physical and mental abilities. I mostly can summon them when I can focus. Since we've been in Andromeda, however, something has changed. My powers have become way stronger. But they also harm me much more. It is enough to use a relatively simple power and I... am potentially in mortal danger. The more powers I summon, the greater the danger they will kill me." 

Saraan had listened in silence the whole time, looking at Samuel.  
"You could have died and you knew it." He said.  
"Yes, but my sister's life and the consul's were more important." Samuel replied. Silence fell. 

Saraan suddenly rose and walked towards Samuel. He looked up at him in tense. What next? Saraan reached behind the chair where Samuel was tied up and pressed a switch. Immediately, with a soft click, the four cuffs opened and the elf was free. Samuel relaxed. Thank the gods. He rubbed his wrists. And then the neck. Red bruises had become visible and would probably turn into hematomas later. Saraan looked at Samuel. And he was looking at him. 

"You would lay down your life for others?" Saraan asked him.  
"For those I care for, without hesitation. I live for others." Samuel almost whispered. 

Saraan pulled up one of the bulging eyebrows. The pointed-eared man's last words were interesting. He would come back to that in time. He slowly nodded and stepped back to give Samuel room to get up. Samuel stood up. Too quickly, as he realized. His circulation obviously took some time and he became dizzy again. He staggered forward, straight into the arms of the angara who caught him. A reflex? 

"Slowly." He whispered to him. 

Saraan's voice vibrated inside him as he leaned against his broad chest for a few seconds. Because a steady atmosphere of antipathy had hung in the air before, he had not been so focused on what a deep calming voice Saraan possessed. Now he had every opportunity in the world to internalize it, whether he wanted to or not. That voice was somehow beautiful. Before the deep, murmuring sound and the eyes of this being threatened to engulf him again like the last time, Samuel separated from Saraan and felt his cheeks begin to burn. He lowered his eyes and cleared his throat softly. 

"Excuse me." He muttered. "And… by the way, thank you for intervening. I would have hated to find out what else they were up to."

Samuel noticed how Saraan was still holding him by the upper arms. He looked up at him again. His heart seemed to beat one beat faster. Saraan finally let go of him and stepped back, a little shyly.

"I hope I haven't made a mistake." His voice returned to a more detached tone. "You owe me with this."  
Samuel nodded. "Better you than me having the hands of that ... other angara on my neck again." He suppressed an insult.  
"Kardash Vicos. Apparently, he has chosen you as his new favorite victim."  
Samuel sighed softly. "Great." 

Saraan pointed at the door, turned away and left the room. Samuel followed him. They walked down the long corridor at an incredible depth below the ground back to the elevator. Probably no one down here would have heard him scream, Samuel thought. 

"So I'm going to have to watch my back." Samuel said, talking about Kardash again.  
"However, before he kills, he plays first. Like I said, if it was up to me, he wouldn't be here anymore.“ Saraan answered.

They crossed the lobby of the headquarters. There were not many angara standing around. But Kardash, of all people, was there. He and Samuel exchanged looks. The black angara gave him the creeps. It was probably best to stay out of his way. Their enmity was sealed. It was Saraan who kept pushing Samuel. They left the headquarters of the resistance and made their way to the docks and the landing zone for ships. Samuel could see the Phoenix from afar and felt relief. Even more so when he saw Samara standing at the foot of the Phoenix's open ramp next to Dr. Ven'Tisa, the Phoenix's medical officer. And even when she looked at him in her typical punishing way, he knew that she was glad to see him back safe and sound for the most part. She would give him a telling off later on the ship, Samuel knew that. She and Dr. Ven'Tisa. Preferably the two of them together because the asari liked to do that as well as Samara. 

"Protector, there you are." She spoke in Samuel's customary official voice. 

She, as well as he and everyone else, was serious and focused when not alone. Samuel took a tight bow. 

"Please forgive my tardiness, Emissary. There was..." he hesitated briefly, but then continued, "some difficulty communicating." 

Samara looked into her brother's eyes for a few seconds, but then nodded.  
"The consul of Aya wishes to speak with you as soon as possible, Protector." 

Samuel also nodded. Then Samara turned to Saraan.  
"I am grateful to you for escorting my bodyguard and our ship‘s commander safely back to the ship. I regret, however, that you did not grace us with your presence during our discussions with the governor." 

Saraan who now learned that Samuel was the captain of the Phoenix and an APEX commander looked at Samara and gracefully replied, 

"I was unfortunately involved in other matters. However, through your attaché, I have received a, well," he glanced briefly at Samuel, who was looking back and forth between Saraan and his sister a little perplexed, "new perspective. I will take part in the discussions next time."  
Samara smiled. "That would make me very happy, Resistance Lieutenant" 

Samuel raised an eyebrow. Wait a minute. 'Resistance Lieutenant?! He stared at Saraan, who unmoved looked back. Serious yet one might think amusement was reflected in the deep blue cat's eyes. Samuel blinked and stuttered unsettled, opening his mouth and only delayed bringing out words: 

"So you are...?" Saraan did not make a face.  
"The deputy leader of the resistance." Completed Samara Samuel's sentence.  
Samuel caught himself again immediately. Emotion was not appropriate here.  
"Lieutenant." 

He never dreamed he'd argued with the third most powerful angara of Aya. And what was actually personally inconvenient for him was that he had to save him. 

"What kind of communication problems did you have?" The emissary suddenly asked. 

Of course she wanted to know. Samuel saw Saraan preparing to say something, but paused when he saw Samuel's pleading look, not to mention the trouble with Chazre and Kardash. 

"Nothing more than a few formalities at the hospital. These were quickly cleared out of the way." 

Samara gently raised one eyebrow and looked at Saraan a few moments longer. Then she nodded slowly. "How fortunate you were able to be there, Lieutenant." She said. "Well, Protector, we have to get back to the Nexus. For the time being, our duties here are done." She said.  
"Understood, Emissary." Samuel affirmed.

She addressed Saraan one last time: "please convey to the governor that it's been a pleasure and I look forward to further discussion. And I look forward to speaking with you again." 

Saraan nodded. A few more courtesies were exchanged, then Samara left the platform and walked up the ramp to the ship. Samuel paused a moment longer and looked at Saraan. And there it was again. Only faintly, but noticeably, this strange feeling. He pushed it aside. 

"I...owe you something. Thanks again for helping me. And not telling my sister." 

He looked at Saraan. And suddenly the angara smiled softly. A small fireworks display seemed to go off in Samuel's chest. 

"Oh, yeah, you owe me big time." He answered. Then the curator and lieutenant became more serious again: "you saved the consul without thinking of your own life. I shall remember that." 

Samuel bowed curtly and gallantly. It was just a habit. The Asian people on his homeworld did it. Interestingly, so did the drell at times.  
"Thank you, Professor." He looked at Saraan again. "Lieutenant?".  
"Call me Saraan." He answered.  
Samuel actually smiled softly this time and nodded. The warmth in his chest remained. "Nice to meet you, Saraan." 

Then he turned away and followed the emissary of the Nexus' diplomatic section back to the Phoenix, which soon after left the spaceport of Aya. Saraan watched him and the ship for quite a while before he returned to the museum, lost in thought and with new feelings, a warmth that was strange an confusing. A beginning was made. And it had been surprisingly positive.


	2. Chapter 2: Alien Martial Arts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training between Samuel and Thantos and a challenge to the young elf adept.
> 
> To get into mood, listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiWFY_vovLw

On the return flight to the Phoenix and after the Nexus Council, the emissary reported on a successful meeting with the governor, but also on problems that could arise from the intervention of Ravos Jel Kaan, the chairman of _Roa Valla Sjem_ and his potential influence on political events. The governor may be a person of reason, but Jel Kaan had already gained some influence. It was now necessary to counteract quickly. That meant for Samara the work on Aya had just begun. And she would certainly take her bodyguards with her. She assured that the whole crew would leave the ship and could visit the capital. There was work to be done. Not only for the emissary. Samuel was head of a special tasks group within APEX, which mainly carried out secret operations: inconspicuous penetration, quickest possible execution and disappearance without a trace were the distinguishing features of this team. Of course, Thantos was also part of this team, just like the turian Varius Talorian and the krogan Nakmor Trox Ghurak. These two formed the backup. In case of firefights or close combat, they were on hand. Trox had once said that he felt like a hotel maid who had to clean up after a wild party night. When Jake Goodwin circulated a - naturally manipulated - picture of Trox in a maiden outfit on the Phoenix, Trox almost shot him through the airlock into space if Samuel hadn't prevented. Jake then had to make up for this violation of krogan honor with a drinking contest. Needless to say, he didn't stand a chance against the Krogan and incurred the wrath of Dr. Ven'Tisa, who had the doubtful pleasure to treat his alcohol poisoning.

The first visit to Aya was followed by others. From a diplomatic point of view there was still a lot to do, especially since the "New Order" did not even think about making friends for the sake of peace.  
The Phoenix crew was once again very busy. Actually, everything was as usual, except that a part of the crew followed the discussions between the emissary, the commander and the second protector and - it wasn't unusual - made bets on which of the three would win in the end. Most of the bets were on Samara because she usually had the better arguments. She waited until her brother and Thantos was with her and nobody else could hear them - at least that's what she thought. Only in such situations did they talk to each other intimately and renounced title, rank and formalities. The relationship within the crew was usually professional. They treated each other with respect. But beyond that there were often enough opportunities for teasing. Crew members such as Teekoy Var, Varius Talorian, Nakmor Trox Ghurak or Patricia Potter provided the necessary lightening of the mood. Each in his own way. Samara had recently finished her conversation with the governor, in which this time also Admiral de Tershaav and Professor de Kanos had been involved, and had returned to the Phoenix. Just arrived she ordered Samuel and Thantos into the conference room. She was very excited.

"Sam, you could demonstrate your martial arts together with Thantos. This is a big opportunity to impress the warriors!". 

Samuel listened to the suggestion and gently raised an eyebrow. He gave Thantos a meaningful look before he said: 

"You know we don't train to impress others, don‘t you?"

Samara rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, but I think it would be very helpful." 

She smiled. That smile had never been very trustworthy. Samuel did not smile but looked at her stone-cold and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Thantos also looked most unimpressed. Neither of them was particularly enthusiastic. There was silence in the grave for a few seconds.

"Look, if we can impress the resistance, we've already made a huge diplomatic leap." Samara tried again.

"You might as well ask your brother to spend the night with Admiral de Tershaav." Thantos dropped in unexpectedly. 

Samuel stared his _shaday_ straight down. Samara looked at Thantos as if she was seriously weighing the thought. 

"Hmm, well, if that helps to make the-…"  
"No!" Growled Samuel decided. "Put it out of your mind. Both of you!"  
Samara looked at Samuel. "What if you and the consul…"  
„I'm **not** going to bed with anyone!“ He hissed at the emissary. 

Downstairs, Trox, Teekoy, Varius and Patricia started grinning. Varius grimaced with a pseudo-bad smile. "I would do him …. if I was the consul." 

The other three looked at him and quietly snorted. It should not surprise anyone that bets had already been placed on this, too. Samara started giggling.

"All right, I'm just teasing you, my dear Commander." She cackled.  
"Not funny." Samuel mumbled.

Thantos's lips were full. He had trouble not grinning. Samuel gave him a warning look.

"But I would really, really appreciate if I could at least point out to the most powerful angara that they should take a look at your fighting techniques." She said.  
Samuel sighed. "Can you be stopped?" He finally asked. 

The grin turned into a dearest smile, which he still didn't buy from Samara. They both knew it was a rhetorical question. "Samara," he sighed. He and Thantos left the conference room soon. Samuel met the four crew members not far from the kitchen and just picked up Teekoy asking, "what is this now? Tied game?" They looked at him. He just looked up at the ceiling, making a silent thrusting prayer to the three deities and went on silently. No, he wouldn't go into that right now. He could only hope that she'd simply abandon her idea. However otherwise she wouldn't be the sister he knew. And he should be right.

Aya's forest was beautiful. With places to meditate and exercise with his shaday. The two fighters sat opposite each other on a stone plateau, not far from a waterfall, whose stream rushed into the valley. In the sun the water drops glittered like diamonds, glittering similar to Samuel‘s eyes. The rushing was distant and quiet. Exotic animal sounds filled the air. They too were far away. Samuel and Thantos had their eyes closed. Their hands interlocked like bowls. They sat cross-legged and meditated. Let the ki flow. Nothing and nobody seemed to be able to bring them out of their peace. They opened their eyes at the same moment. Some quiet breaths looked at each other. Then Thantos rose and Samuel followed a few seconds later. A gentle breeze approached through the forest and danced together with some loose leaves over the plateau. The breeze brought a sweet earthy scent. Samuel sucked it in and closed his eyes, paused a few moments longer when a strange longing, a strange feeling of homesickness overtook him. It was not, however, a longing for the refugees of the Milky Way. He pushed the feeling aside. Now it was time for practice and training. Focus. Thantos had already started to do some warm-up exercises. Samuel followed his example. If one had the opportunity, one should first warm up and stretch the muscles and tendons. In a fight this was mostly not possible. You had to be focused immediately. Here they could take their time. In the beginning their movements seemed a bit clumsy, unfocused, but soon it was obvious that they were for the purpose of loosening and warming up.

Then, following a silent command, both finished the warm-up and loosening exercises and turned to each other. Samuel tightened his belt once more, which was tied around his waist. They both wore battle clothings of strong fabric and light leather. Thantos wore over his shirt, belt and trousers some kind of coat with a high-necked collar in black and purple. Samuel wore the same, but in black and red. The fabric was tight-fitting, emphasizing the slender, muscular bodies, but very elastic and strong. The garments, including a kind of tight-fitting hanfu, were a interesting composition of drell and asian culture. Thantos stood slightly turned sideways to Samuel, his hands crossed behind his back. The elf bowed, looking at thedDrell. He nodded gracefully. Always a symbolic recognition of master and pupil or master and subject, although Samuel was almost equal to Thantos by now.

Samuel took a loose fighting position and began to circle his paratan slowly like a cat of prey. And like such a cat he suddenly attacked him. Just as quickly Thantos blocked the blow, which was immediately followed by a second one. A kick. Samuel backed away, it had been nothing more than a test. Still Thantos stood before him in the pose of an experienced fighting master and still didn't let him out of his sight for a second. Samuel took the pose of one of the animal styles that existed on earth in Asia. He preferred the eagle, but was also well versed in all the others. Also in the drell martial arts. With the next attack he did not play anymore, but challenged Thantos. Thantos dropped his loose stance and went into the parade, before he attacked the white-haired elf. He repulsed, answered with blows, punches, kicks, turned strong and gracefully, dived under a mighty kick, Thantos did the same to him. The two fighters flew over the plateau like two fighting predators. Elegant, powerful, dangerous, even unreal. Many attacks could kill, but that was not what either of them was after. The attacks were sometimes so fast the naked eye could hardly keep up. Grips, blocks, jumps, rolls, a few times Samuel landed roughly on the ground, but jumped with his feet in ahead, cushioned himself with his hands, got back on his feet with ease, as if none of this was difficult. It probably wasn‘t. 

There was only a short pause, during which both could catch their breath. They were not very tired yet, though, as one could tell. Samuel did not need to look behind him. He knew the wooden sound when Thantos put the battlestaff on the ground. In the absence of a real battlestaff, they had both taken two sturdy straight branches from the forest and worked them. They would probably not last long, but would be sufficient for training. Samuel also knew that Thantos would not wait. Samuel grabbed the battlestick lying on his side and tore it, going into a half kneeling position, upwards, having both hands on the wood. With a dry bang Thantos' staff crashed against the elf's one. The arm muscles tightened considerably as Samuel worked against the pressure coming from above. He managed to push Thantos away and jumped up to chase him instantly. Now wooden blows echoed through the forest. Samuel preferred to hold the staff rather with both hands in the middle. Thantos knew this and wanted to sweep his soul brother off his feet with a hard blow downwards, but he had counted on it and jumped off with impressive speed to do a somersault backwards through the air and then land on the ground again light-footedly. Thantos nodded at him, but then attacked him undiminished. Finally, a blow followed, executed so forcefully by Thantos that his staff burst and the Samuels was clearly cracked, pulling him aside for defence. They paused for a moment and looked at each other in bewilderment. Then they smiled and cleared away the remains. They were aware that the blow could have easily broken several of Samuel's ribs if he hadn't defended himself. But they were both professionals. More: as a team they were almost unbeatable and absolutely lethal.

A further stage of fighting followed. This time a duel with asari swords was planned. Again, they gave each other nothing. And it happened several times that they cut each other in their deadly dance. Hardly noticeable, mostly the clothes were individualized a little bit. They danced more than they fought. The sight was magnificent. Fascinating and impressive. And even a bit frightening. They were both breathing heavily, continuing their duel when something unexpected happened. A crack in the undergrowth, as if someone had fallen from a tree, and a squeak from a woman's throat distracted Samuel. He turned his head only briefly in the direction from which the sound came and was literally knocked over by Thantos. Samuel uttered a painful, choked sound when he landed on his back, but immediately rolled to the side and jumped back on one knee, ready to get up again. But right then Thantos pressed his blade against his neck. Samuel gasped and froze. Thantos saw in the white eyes of the elf that he was weighing the chances of a quick counterattack and therefore pressed the blade against the other‘s artery with a little more force. Samuel let the sword glide slowly to the ground, his neck still slightly stretched, remaining in a frozen half kneeling position and looking at his _shaday_. 

"Never, _never_ let yourself be distracted when you are aware of your opponent before you, _paratan _."__

__The guttural voice of the drell sounded in Samuel's ears. Thantos drew back his sword and allowed the elf to rise._ _

__"I‘m sorry, _sha'day_. But we have visitors." he whispered to his soul brother and master. _ _

__Thantos didn't seem to notice. He looked around with his pitch-black eyes. Samuel did not hesitate. He had already located the hidden one. Playfully he picked up a stone from the ground, then threw it with such force that it hit the wood in the tree next to the eavesdropper. Wood splintered. A squeal tore the air apart. Samuel and Thantos stared in the same direction. Someone worked his way through the bushes, clamoring. Samuel tilted his head. Then he gasped and his features gained amusement and slight annoyance._ _

__"Samara!"  
Samuel's sister stumbled awkwardly out of the bushes. Leaves and twigs dangling in her red hair.  
"Oh, why do you always have to train so far away?" She complained. _ _

__Samuel crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
"Normally because we want to avoid disturbances." He replied calmly. _ _

__Samara looked at her brother and smiled. He looked at her and raised one black eyebrow.  
"Well, you haven't really had any peace since you started fighting." She murmured softly.  
Thantos and Samuel looked at each other. _ _

__"Who else is here?" The drell wanted to know.  
"That would be us." A deep voice came from the underbrush. _ _

__Shortly afterwards, Professor Saraan de Kanos, an unknown angara and Chazre de Tershaav appeared. Both Thantos and Samuel glanced at the red-haired woman with a look of little amusement._ _

__"The emissary had insisted that we take a look at your training. I apologize for the fact that we were hiding. She felt it would distract you too much otherwise. She has a remarkable talent of convincing others." Saraan said._ _

__He seemed amused, though he was pretending to be serious. Chazre stood beside him. His expression was grumpy as Efvras had always been. And the suspicion and devaluation were still in his eyes as well._ _

__"It was a nice exercise for us, too, because covert observation is just as important." Said the unknown angara. Samuel looked from Samara to Saraan. who, in turn, seemed unable to take his eyes off him. He immediately felt a little bit flustered from his very presence._ _

__"So... you've observated all of our training?" He asked. He felt insecure inside. But why, he was not really aware of.  
"Yes. And it was very impressive." Saraan initiated but was interrupted by Chazre: "and it's useless in the open field."  
Samuel looked at the leader of the resistance with a neutral expression. That he would make such a comment was not surprising.  
"Mr Savallian and I are also part of an APEX unit operating undercover. We don't usually fight in the open field, but in places where space is at a premium and we have to move fast." _ _

__Samuel explained. He could see out of the corner of his eye as Saraan tried to stare Chazre down. Somehow that was amusing. The leader didn't seem to care._ _

__"Good. Let's see what you can do." He said coolly. "We might have a mission for you."  
Samuel glanced briefly at Thantos, noticing Samara's face falling to the ground, but ignored it. The important thing was that Thantos indicated a nod. Then he looked at the three angara again.  
"We will assist you."  
"You will _complete_ this mission. Not _assist_." Said Chazre.  
Samuel didn't seem impressed.  
"Give us the details of the mission."  
The unknown angara made a statement:  
"I'll have them sent to your terminal. Well, it was an impressive performance. From my side." _ _

__Samuel bowed gallantly. "Thank you." The angara still found the bowing strange but fascinating, judging by their looks._ _

__Chazre and the unknown angara took the forest road back to the city. Thantos, Samara and Samuel followed them at a distance. Saraan, Thantos and Samara waited for Samuel, who stopped for a few moments on the plateau. Something in him had urged him to pay respect to the place. Samara did not quite understand why his brother knelt down and said a silent prayer. Thantos and Saraan, on the other hand, though for different reasons, were less surprised. The Drell had also bowed briefly. When Samuel caught up with them, they set themselves in motion. Saraan let herself fall back a little when Samara began to talk to Thantos and her brother. But the two walked next to each other only in stoic dignity and let the red-haired woman get upset. The spirit of the crane lingers in the silence. He felt a look at himself resting and looked back. Saraan followed them slowly. Samuel slowed his pace and let Thantos continue with the grumbling Samara. He waited for Saraan and walked beside him._ _

__"That was... very impressive." He said at one point. "And it looked very... very aesthetic. Like a dance. That uhm, lightness and strength at the same time. I've never seen anything like it before."  
Samuel looked at the angara. Were those compliments? "Thank you. In the Milky Way, at least on Earth, it's called a martial art. It's more than fighting. It's a way of life. Thantos and I live by it. We are, as I once explained to you, adepts. Neither of us knew that the drell and humans from a certain area of my home planet practiced these martial arts equally. It was difficult to unite them. And yet, quite easy. The philosophies are so similar in some ways."_ _

__Samuel watched Thantos walk beside Samara. The peace himself, as always. Saraan, on the other hand, watched Samuel._ _

__"Are you two a couple?" He asked suddenly. Samuel looked at the angara in astonishment.  
"Uhm... n-no. No, we're not a couple. Thantos is like a brother to me. No, he... he is a brother. And my teacher. Also my...master. We are family. The three of us." He answered. _ _

__He thought he saw something like silent relief in the eyes of the angara. Maybe he just imagined it. Yes, sure it was nothing but an illusion. Then the look on Saraans face somehow gained some concern._ _

__„Wait, he is your master too? Then you are…. his slave?" He asked._ _

__For the angara, this issue has been a nasty one since the Kett reign of terror._ _

__Samuel hesitated. "It's...a...longer story. But it's okay the way it is."_ _

__Saraan looked at him thoughtfully. "I want to hear that story sometime." He decided. He left it at that for now. He had not expected that a master-slave relationship existed between these two aliens of all people. _How could something like this be „okay“_ , Saraan wondered._ _

__"And the rest of your family?" Saraan asked again.  
"Rest? There is no rest. There are three of us. I have a sister. And a drell brother." Saraan stopped and stared at Samuel. He stopped too.  
"Only one sister? It's very sad." _ _

__The angara had huge families compared to humans or other species in the Milky Way._ _

__"Not unusual." Samuel shrugged.  
"And your parents? Do you know them?" Saraan asked. They walked on.  
"No.“ Samuel replied. "I never met them. Samara grew up with some foster parents. I... got by. In the shadows." _ _

__They walked in silence for some time. Samuel's head was clear. It was always good to work out with his paratan. And to fight side by side with him. He could sense what Thantos was up to and act or react with him. That's why they were so effective. And one would kill for the other. And die too. They even shared the other‘s pain. Yes. His head was clear. Or should be. But since Saraan walked beside him, he felt strange._ _

__"Hey, wait!"_ _

__Saraan suddenly grabbed Samuel's upper arm and forced him to stop. Questioningly, the elf, lost in his thoughts, looked at the angara. He pushed his vest to the side and it burned slightly.  
"You are bleeding badly here." Samuel looked over his shoulder but could only feel._ _

__"Hm? Oh. I guess I wasn't as careful as I thought." He replied._ _

__It must have been the moment he heard Samara's squeak, giving Thantos the opportunity to strike. "You should get medical attention for this. Dr. ja Varuhn will take care of it."_ _

__Somehow it sounded like an order. He hadn't noticed how the blood had seeped through the black fabric of the vest. But Saraan had. He pulled a pack of medigel out of a side pocket._ _

__"Is it that bad?" Samuel asked him._ _

__Saraan, lowering his head slightly, raised his eyes and fixed them on Samuel. There was something lurking in his eyes. and something irresistible at the same time. Wait. What was he thinking about?_ _

__"Hold still." Said the angara gently but firmly._ _

__Samuel did as he was told. It pinched and it burned and it heated and Samuel hissed softly._ _

__"There, that should do it. You should still get that wound looked at." Saraan finally said.  
"Thank you." Samuel mumbled. _ _

__He looked up at Saraan from the ground. and their eyes locked for a moment. Diamond meets sapphire. They stopped for a few seconds. Gods, those angaran eyes. They completely captivated him for some seconds. His heart started beating a little faster. Wow, damnit. Focus! It was Samuel who finally ended the moment. He cleared his throat quietly and avoided the gaze of Angara._ _

__"Let's... move on."_ _

__He muttered and continued on his way. Saraan looked at him for a moment. He also felt strange. This Human confused him. He started to think of that fight again to distracti himself from what he felt. It didn‘t help at all. On the contrary. It has been really fascinating watching them fight. They had both been impressive. But from the first moment he saw Samuel moving like a lethal dancer, he couldn't take his eyes off that white-haired, pointed-eared Human. This power, speed and elegance combined. Sarahan took a deep breath, then followed Samuel and the others back to Aya, lost in thoughts._ _

__

__"Just because you train so well with your partner doesn't mean you have a chance against real opponents. especially if you don't have a chance at hand-to-hand combat.“ Said Chazre de Tershaav to Samuel a few days later._ _

__They were on the training grounds of the Resistance, where the fighters practiced their manoeuvres before they went into the wilderness of Aya or Havarl._ _

__"I am quite capable of handling firearms. I just don't use them quite as often." Samuel replied._ _

__He faced the leader of the Resistance. He narrowed his eyes and walked up and down in front of the white-haired man with crossed eyes. Samuel had his hands crossed behind his back and stood there slightly with his legs apart. They looked like a recruit and his superior. Around them stood eight other Angara, armed and their heads protected by helmets. The team that was currently training. On top of the metal bridge, from which Samuel had often watched, this time a part of the Phoenix crew stood and watched, among them Trox Ghurak, Jake Goodwin, Patricia Potter, Caliria Adrascus, Varius Talorian and Teekoy Var. Thantos was also there. The fighting members of the crew did not want to miss that training. Samara had caused the squad to watch by persistent politeness, selected words and by the consul, with whom Samuel had met in the meantime and who had allowed the squad to enter the training grounds. And somehow she had managed that Chazre had agreed, albeit very reluctantly, to let Samuel enter the grounds for once. On terms. Chazre drew his gun._ _

__"So you're going into battle unarmed?" He asked, doubtingly.  
"No, never. I usually carry a gun." _ _

__He watched Chazre. The angaran team, at first, just watched. An Angara also stepped onto the bridge during the conversation between the two below. Professor Saraan de Kanos certainly didn't want to miss this training session neither, where Chazre himself was sparring with an alien. Samuel did not look up at his friends and team members. He didn't trust Chazre any more than Chazre trusted him._ _

__He raised the pistol and pointed it directly at Samuel's forehead._ _

__"You would still be helpless." There was a soft whisper up on the bridge._ _

__Only Thantos stood there completely still. He knew what happened next. He even felt the impulse before it happened. Samuel didn't even bat an eyelid. There was a heartbeat that went by. The next, the adept took the pistol out of Chazre‘s hand in a flash, using a few very deft grips, and then it was Chazre staring into the barrel._ _

__"No. I wouldn't be." Whispered Samuel. He had been analyzing the other one for a while. And now he was beginning to test the limits. Chazre looked out of the corner of his eye as the angaran fighters looked at each other, some nodding in awe._ _

__"Very well." He snorted. "You're going up against the angaran team.  
"Your mission is to disarm them all and send them to the ground. Without causing them serious injury, of course." _ _

__There was some quiet discussion up on the bridge, Samuel could hear it. He dared to take a quick look up. And discovered Saraan, of all people, who had just been pushed aside by Teekoy because the Volus was looking for a better view._ _

__"The team will shoot, but this is only practice ammunition. It still hurts." Chazre went on and reached out a hand to Samuel. Samuel gave him his gun back.  
"If you complete the task to my satisfaction, I may allow your team to train here."  
„Our Commander will shellac them!“_ _

__When he heard cheering from above. The Volus only wanted to cheer softly but was a bit too loud. Samuel sighed softly. The people up there couldn't control themselves when they were in a group. But Thantos already called them to order. Samuel nodded to Chazre._ _

__"Agreed. I will do my best to satisfy you." Chazre looked at him dismissively._ _

__He was sure the outworlder would not be able to make it. The leader retreated from the circle and gave an order to the team, which spread out. The lights in the hall were dimmed to better simulate the situation like on Havarl or Aya._ _

__"I wonder if the boy can do it." Trox muttered.  
"Guess he will. He‘s a natural." Said Varius and received approval from the others. _ _

__Upstairs they were very curious about what was coming now. Even Saraan. He noticed that he was quite excited. While it was easy to see from above what was happening, Samuel could only guess and listen where his opponents were moving. Walls and containers, corners and undergrowth hid them. Saraan threw a glance at Thantos. He was the only one up here besides himself who was stoically calm - on the outside. Either, it was simply his way or Thantos Savallian was sure that the elf had chances to succeed. To be honest he doubted it. Samuel stood there for a few long moments. He had lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes. Then he opened them and off he went. He moved like a shadow. Soon he had discovered the first angara resistance fighter and approached him from behind. It happened so fast the warrior did not even know what hit him. In no time he was rid of his weapon and gave a groan before he went down. Samuel jumped over him with playful ease and already had the next target in sight. But just before he reached the next fighter, he made a quick, elegant leap to the side and dodged a bullet that crashed into a container with a metallic bang and sprayed its paint._ _

__"Wow!" Saraan heard the human woman standing beside him exclaim. „Did he just dodge a bullet? Holy crap!“.  
„He‘s a ki-adept, Potter. They can do that. They don‘t need to carry weapons. They ARE weapons.“ Caliria said._ _

__Saraan shook his head. He was impressed as well. Samuel worked his way through the corridors. A few times it got really tight. Saraan heard Thantos make a low, sullen flick of his lips several times, seemingly disagreeing with his _paratans_ strategy. But it soon became apparent that a single outworlder was gaining the upper hand. It seemed as if this was all just a game to Samuel. But he took every opponent seriously and was focused. Three more angara lost their weapons and their grip on the ground when a fifth attacker went into close combat. He literally knocked the flanked adept down. He crashed to the ground but rolled sideways and immediately jumped to his feet as the enemy chased him. A sixth and a seventh angara joined in and put Samuel in dire straits, who apparently decided to switch to parry and evasive action. Two others were soon disarmed and went over to close combat. The fifth of them dropped back a little and tried to fire a well-aimed shot, which was impossible because Samuel jumped between the two attackers, rolled over their backs, dived under them, slipping on his knees, or using them as shields against each other, holding them in check with grips, punches and kicks, so that the angara finally hit one of his men. The angara who was hit by the bullet staggered back and shook his helmeted head, making a crude gesture towards the shooter. He raised his arms helplessly and apologetically. And with this he had given Samuel the opportunity to take him off his feet and take the gun. Number seven was stopped from running on by a shot to the chest from Isharay. The crew, except of Thantos, on the bridge couldn‘t hold back anymore and started to cheer and to whistle. They kind of celebrated. _ _

__"Who's the hottest commander, wohoow!" Varius was especially in fan mode and was actively supported by Patricia._ _

__They both had a crush on Samuel, and what he delivered only fueled their crushes even more. Saraan and Thantos remained silent. Saraan was irritated and amused by the crew members at the same time, while Thantos simply felt strangely ashamed, maintaining his attitude. The curator's eyes were soon fixed only on Samuel like when he saw him training with Thantos. He again was completely taken in. And even couldn‘t tell why. Samuel, in a cease-fire, went up to the heavily breathing angara lying on the ground and stretched out a hand to him. He looked up, probably looking at him through his helmet. Hesitating, he took his hand and let himself be helped up. Samuel patted him on the shoulder and looked around. He was exhausted but the task wasn‘t over yet. If he had counted correctly, that had now been seven. Where might the eighth be? He received the answer. A shadow flew over him. He could barely get out of the way before the angara, which was bigger than the others, would have rammed him into the ground and most likely wounded him very badly. Samuel backed away, took up a fighting pose and focused the attacker. He did the same, raising his weapon and shot. Samuel managed to hide behind a container. This happened two more times then the ammo clip was nearly empty. One single shot was left. Samuel breathed heavily. It was extremely exhausting to dodge the bullets withoput using any ki-powers. Samuel watched him closely. The final fight began. They began to circle around each other._ _

__"Ooh, he seems to be more capable than the others." Teekoy said.  
"They are all very good." Said Jake.  
"Our commander is simply better." Rhapsodized Patricia, who had put her head on both hands and watched. _ _

__Varius had adopted the same pose. Patricia even sighed. Was she in love? Saraan glanced at her briefly. And also Varius was examined. Then he too looked down again._ _

__The ngara was still armed and he had no intention of handing in his weapon. Samuel weighed how best to overpower him. Or if. He had to get close enough to snatch the weapon from him. He probably had to try. Just as the angara was about to fire, Samuel sprinted off, straight for the barrel pointed at him. "There aren't many people crazy enough to run toward a gunshot!" Trox laughed. Samuel went all out. A shot rang out. He felt hot pain, but he dodged it. He slipped right under the gunner and hit one of his legs while pulling a lever with the other. Obviously the warrior hadn't counted on anyone being foolhardy enough to run towards a gun and accept the injury. He lost his balance and fell, but was able to restrain himself and rolled off, pulling the weapon back up. But Samuel was immediately on him and grabbed it. Now there was a scuffle, both opponents were standing again. The resistance fighter was extremely strong. But suddenly he pulled a knife and apparently wanted to ram it into Samuel's side. Someone screamed at the top of the bridge.  
Samuel immediately released the gun with one hand and blocked the knife. The low resistance was immediately used by the opponent. A hard blow hit Samuel against the zygomatic bone. He groaned in pain, but remained steadfast. Then he let go of the weapon completely and tore his arm upwards, so that he hit the helmet chin of the angara hard with the ball of his hand. There was a metallic clang as the knife fell to the ground. Panting, he grabbed it while the warrior staggered back and was obviously a little dazed for a moment. Samuel wiped blood from his cheek and took advantage of his opponent's dazedness to ram him against the next container with a growl and put the knife to his throat. This seemed to make it clear who the winner was. On the bridge there was already rejoicing. But the opponent apparently had a different opinion. He fought anything but fair, as Samuel and everyone who followed the scenario had to realize. He managed to give Samuel a punch in the pit of his stomach. Immediately he was out of breath and collapsed while staggering backwards, pressing his hands on the pit of his stomach. The blow was so violent that there was nothing more he could do but gasp for air. The angara followed immediately, pushing him to the ground and putting one knee on the chest of the white-haired man gasping for air. Samuel could hear his squad members protesting. The loudest were Trox and Teekoy. Samuel could see a pistol lying nearby. He reached out one arm and tried to reach it. Not possible. He was about to use his powers. A glint in the air got his attention back. Then he felt the sharp blade of the combat knife at his throat. Through the dark visor of the helmet he could see two glowing eyes predatoryly staring at him. He breathed heavily and held still, because he believed this fighter would otherwise slit his throat. What was wrong with this guy?! _ _

__"Let...go!" He growled.  
"Do you give up?" He heard the angara's deep voice distorted by the helmet mike.  
"Fuck, yes!" He hissed, still having trouble to breathe. The Angara bent down a little more. The pressure of the knee became so great that Samuel began to rattle.  
"You'll say that at a very different time." Aghast he stared at the angara. What did he just say? _ _

__A shadow shot across the two of them. Finally, with a powerful jolt from four hands, the fighter was torn from Samuel. He breathed heavily and sat up slowly. Saraan had hurried into the hall with Thantos. Samuel looked up at them and the other angara. The professor and the fighter argued with each other while Thantos helped his _paratan_ on his legs and hold him, whiping the blood from his cheek. In the background he heard the voices of his squad members who picked the crazy angara to pieces who now took off his helmet wherepon it hit Samuel like lightning: Kardash Vikos!_ _

__He should have known it was that asshole. Samuel suddenly felt an irrepressible rage bubbling up inside him. No sooner had Thantos let go of him than he stomped on the two angara, past the somewhat surprised looking Saraan, towards Kardash. Samuel was not afraid to grab the larger one by the collar and press him against one of the containers, placing his hands in such a way that Kardash now had trouble breathing._ _

__"What is your fucking problem?!" He hissed at him._ _

__Kardash was indeed surprised and did not react at all at first. Saraan took advantage of that to de-escalate the situation. He grabbed Samuel by the shoulder pulling him away from Kardash with gentle force._ _

__"Samuel." he whispered with his deep, melodic voice._ _

__Hearing it reassured the elf quickly. He let Saaran pull him away from Kardash and felt Thantos' hand on his shoulder, which held him with clear pressure this time. Saraan even bent him a bit behind him. Like... he wanted to protect him? Samuel could not think about it now. He turned to Thantos and drove through his white hair before he stopped and closed his eyes._ _

__"Serenity." His _shaday_ warned him quietly. Samuel nodded, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _ _

__When he opened his eyes again he saw the seven other members of the angaran team slowly gathering. One was limping. Samuel did not hesitate and walked towards him._ _

__"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't catch you too hard." He apologized and bowed to him. The angara - and he wasn't the only one - looked at him in wonder. Obviously he didn't expect an alien to be concerned and that polite._ _

__"It's all right. Thanks." he replied, wringing a hesitant smile from himself. Samuel didn't respond but nodded at him._ _

__"A very impressive performance." Suddenly, Chazre's voice came down the hall. He had reappeared and stood beside Saraan. Samuel turned to face him. His shoulder was still sore from the gunshot and his cheek hurt. He ignored the throb._ _

__"Thank you." Samuel replied quietly._ _

__He didn't really care what Chazre thought of the „performance“ right now. ...because the resistance leader, as he knew, didn't think much of him anyway. He surprised him right away. "I didn't expect you to be able to paralyze seven members of this team. I'm authorizing you and your team to participate in the training maneuvers.“ Well, that was something! Whether or not his team would take up the offer was up to them. Chazre turned to Kardash._ _

__"Next time, when it's obvious to everyone that you're outgunned, stop fighting. Wolfsbane clearly defeated you and could have just as easily killed you." He rebuked the other angara._ _

__Samuel raised his black eyebrows. He thought he'd misheard. He glanced back at Thantos, who looked back at him. The training was finished after a short order from Chazre._ _

__Samuel walked back through the hall with Thnatos towards the stairs leading up to the bridge where his team mates stood and began to cheer as he approached them. Embarrassed, he shook his head and smiled weakly. But before Samuel went on, he noticed someone following him and turned around. It was Saraan. Samuel waited until he was open to him, while Thantos continued his way up the stairs, then they walked on side by side._ _

__"Good thing you intervened." Said Samuel. It was shameful for him. "That was the second time you had to save me... from him." It wasn't flattering for him at all. Though each time Kardash clearly had the upper hand and Samuel might not have used his powers. Saraan wouldn't look at him._ _

__"Kardash is malicious and deceitful. I hope Chazre is beginning to realise that too."_ _

__Samuel nodded. There was something about Saraan's presence that made him feel comfortable. He paused briefly and looked at him._ _

__"Thank you, Professor." He spoke softly then corrected himself. "Saraan."_ _

__Saraan also paused and looked at Samuel. For a moment, there was again this kind of whatever between them: something unspoken, undone._ _

__"Mh..no...problem." Saraan hesitated._ _

__It seemed like he was trying to say something else. They continued on their way. When they reached the top, they were met by the Phoenix crew. Teekoy, Jake, Trox and Patricia were still upset by Kardash's unfair behaviour._ _

__"You could have taken him down easy, boy." Did the krogan of clan Nakmor growl. Since they knew each other, he had only ever called him „boy“. At first it had been a bit irritating, but Samuel had got used to it by now.  
Teekoy the volus agreed with him. "Yes, what a cowardly pyjag!"  
„You were magnificent." Patricia raved.  
"Oh, you should have seen Varius and Pat. They almost started drooling." Caliria made fun of them._ _

__Varius winked at him and grinned like a fang. Samuel was a little embarrassed that his crew talked that way. At least now all of them were allowed to train if they wanted. Since the training and the "test" by the angaran resistance leader was finished, they left the training area. Samuel waited until his crew mates had gone ahead, then he spoke to Saraan again._ _

__"Hey, uhm... I'd like to buy you a drink. As a thank you."_ _

__Saraan looked at him uncomprehendingly, and Samuel started to feel a little stupid. Hesitantly, he added,_ _

__"So...go for a drink. At Tavetaan?".  
Then recognition lit up in Saraan's eyes, as if one had just successfully explained to a child why one cannot breathe under water. Samuel thought it was kind of... cute?  
"Ooh. Uhm..." he hesitated, "sure. why not? Later? Two hours from now?"  
Samuel nodded and managed to smile.  
"Sure." And Saraan returned the smile, shyly.  
"Okay, then... see you later."_ _


	3. Interlude: „Date“ Preparations

"So, you have a date, huh?" 

Samara surprised him with these words when they were alone in the emissaries' quarters. Samuel looked at her with an uncomprehending gaze. What a date? Samara smiled. She had been smiling ever since they were back on the ship and slowly it was getting scary. And now that they were both alone she came out with the reason why she was smiling. 

"I don't have a date?“ Samuel said irritated. 

But his sister kept smiling. Could she stop that in the three god‘s names or what?. 

"Nooo, of course not. Afterwards, with the handsome professor? At the Tavetaan?".  
Samuel looked at her with astonishment. "Where from?"  
"Teekoy accidentally overheard you inviting Professor de Kanos." 

Samuel snorted. Accidentally, of course. 

"One, Teekoy's a bloody chatterbox and two, this is not a date." He growled. "I just want to thank him for saving me for the...", he almost said, _"for the second time."_ He quickly rephrased his words, "at the most embarrassing moment for...intervening.“ 

The grin temporarily disappeared from the young woman's face. 

"Yes, it's good that he intervened. I heard it. This Kardash Vikos is just a...a.…"  
"brutal asshole who has something on me?" Suggested Samuel dry as they left the quarters and headed for the kitchen.  
"You're damn right.“ Caliria Adrascus, the female turian, overheard part of the conversation. 

She had just come out of the cargo bay and walked past them. In the kitchen, Patricia was standing, talking to Varius and Teekoy. The Volus looked at Samuel and even though he was wearing a suit and a breathing mask like all volus did, one could hear his grin. 

"Ah, have you prepared yourself? Kchch." 

And that was the starting signal for the next two hours, during which Samuel had only limited peace and quiet. Samara began to talk, Patricia joined in and Varius, who made no secret of the fact that he liked other men and especially Samuel, also got into the act.

Samara: "Patricia, I think he should get some fashion advice from us."  
Patricia: "That's right, we wanted to talk about that."  
Varius: "I think he should wear the black suit."  
Samara: "Isn't that a bit strict?"  
Patricia: "You think so?"  
Varius: "I'd prefer something sexier."  
Samuel: "Uh, hello?"  
Varius: "Something that emphasizes his body? Sounds good."  
Samuel: "Guys?!"

Teekoy sat on one of the chairs, a drink with a straw in front of him standing on the table and giggling. He enjoyed himself deliciously. The three of them were busy planning the evening for Samuel and were so loud that Thantos and Trox appeared. First they both looked questioningly, then Trox began to grin when they saw Samuel sitting on a chair, resigned and desperate as the three stood around him, discussing what to wear and how to wear his hair. 

"Thantos, please help me!" he shouted to his _paratan_. 

But Thantos just smiled and raised his hands in defence: "oh, I fear I am powerless here." 

Trox behind Thantos broke out in laughter and disappeared again somewhere in the ship before Samuel could kill him with looks. In the kitchen the fashion discussion went on. Next they discussed whether he should wear his hair loose or whether a bun would be appropriate. Varius let the snow-white hair slide through one of his claws when he stood behind Samuel. 

He waved the Turian's hand away with his own. "Knock it off."

Patricia: "A bun is a great idea!"  
Samara: "Of course not."  
Varius: "Maybe he should finally get a more military haircut."  
Samuel: "I'm not getting my hair cut?!"  
Patricia: "But maybe a wild undercut? Uh, yes. A braid might not be a bad idea. With his white hair, I'd definitely go with dark clothes, that way it shows off best."  
Samara: "Yes, that's an excellent idea."  
Patricia: "Maybe the black, slightly shiny shirt?"  
Samara: "And dark blue pants with the black boots, that's what we'll do!"  
Patricia: „Doesn't he own knee-high boots? They go well with them.“  
Varius: „Wouldn't that be a little too much or not enough casual? The Tavetaan is not a diplomatic ball.“  
Samuel: "Hello, may I have some...?!"  
Samara: "Quiet, Sam!"  
Patricia: "Right, silence - Sir."  
Samuel: "But...?"  
Both ladies: "Hush!"

Varius started to snort with laughter. And Samuel wondered if the three of them actually had work to do on the ship. Apparently not. At least Varius finally said goodbye and disappeared into the tech lab to take care of probes, drones and other technical and technological gadgets. The discussion went on for some time and Samuel eventually let Patricia and Samara manoeuvre him into his own small quarters where they began to choose clothes for him. On an evening like this he wondered what kind of crew he actually had. All fighting back didn't help. The two women were simply a superior force. And Patricia enjoyed the opportunity to take Samuel out of his training gear and to look at him half-naked. Then Varius again came along at some point and just sat down brazenly on a chair and watched the three of them, especially when Samuel undressed. Samuel could have bet his rank as commander that Patricia had sent him a message via omnitool that they were going to strip Samuel so he too could watch something. After all, they chose something not quite so formal he was „allowed“ to wear and Patricia insisted on styling Samuel's hair. She weaved some filigree braids over the remaining open hair at the back of his head. It really didn't look bad, but Samuel would have worn it plain open or in a simple braid. 

"Now you really look like a real elf." She said happily.  
"I am a real elf." Samuel growled. 

Varius licked his fangs and even growled softly. He would actually have preferred his commander to stay here and he could have peeled him out of his clothes again, that was clearly visible in his green eyes. Samuel looked at the clock. 

"Oh, shit!". The two ladies had slowed him down quite a bit. He would be late if he didn't hurry.

"Have fun!"  
"Good luck!"  
"Impress him!"  
“Don't drink so much!". 

Basically, almost every crew member made a comment or gave some advice as Samuel hurried through the ship. He knew that his omnitool would not rest easy today. Just a few moments after he left the Phoenix, he received the first messages, more advices and admonitions. He would later switch the device to mute. Weirdos, all of them! It was embarrassing. And yet it was funny. They were like one big family after all.


	4. Chapter 3: Tavetaan Truths & Turian Treatment

Actually, he was used to being stared at. But this time it was unpleasant even by his standards. Why again had he let himself be taken by surprise by the two women and by Varius? They had been delighted with their result, Varius had literally undressed him with glances and even Caliria and Thantos had agreed that he looked good. For him it was simply too much. Even though he actually only wore a black shirt and dark trousers and black boots, and his white hair was not completely open, but a bit coiffed. He was a shadow and liked to move as such through the surroundings and through society. Not so tonight. Now he felt more like a beacon. Samuel looked around. Before long, he spotted the professor. He was sitting at the very table where they had been sitting a few weeks before Samuel had to leave because of the emissary‘s emergency call. He saw that Saraan had put his chin on a fist and looked out over the evening jungle of the planet. 

"Good evening, Professor." He greeted. Samuel suppressed a smile as he saw Saraan look up at him, his blue cat eyes widening.  
"Oh, good evening, Samuel!" Joy gleamed in his face. He looked at him more closely. "You look very handsome. You always do, actually. But tonight of all nights, you are particularly attractive." Samuel was embarrassed.  
"Uhm, thank you. This is not my doing. I was, shall we say, attacked and made ready."  
"Anyway," Saraan put his head a bit crooked, "I like it very much."  
Samuel felt his head turn red and cleared his throat softly. "They‘ll be glad to hear."  
He answered with an embarrassed smile and finally sat down.

"This...martial art you spoke of is very fascinating. Your movements and how you fought with your sparring partner looked very impressive." 

Saraan spoke after a while, some small talk and a few drinks later.  
"I'd like to know more about that. What is it exactly? Where does it come from? In the angaran culture there is also close combat, but it is hardly practiced anymore. It comes from the time most of the artifacts found in the Repository of History are originated. How old is your method of combat?"

He wanted to know a lot. And Samuel gave him answers to all his questions as best he could: 

"The one Thantos and I use is a kind of mixed martial arts. Not only fighting styles from Earth, but also from Rakhana and Kahje, the first and second home world of the drell, are interwoven. However, we found out that there were more styles on earth and we concentrated on them. I mainly use schools from the so-called Kung Fu. Translated, Kung Fu means "something achieved through hard, patient work". But it is not the only style. We also use Seher Nhaga, a drell martial art"

Saraan listened carefully. Samuel told him about the history of Kung Fu and the different styles, which were based on the movements of animals. 

"So you're saying that animals were observed and a fighting style was developed from it? Very interesting. But here, it is probably more difficult to implement. Just imagine an Angara imitating the movements of an eiroch. Or what might a shemrys look like?" 

Saraan suddenly laughed. And Samuel felt a tingling in his chest when he saw the professor's amused face and when he heard his laughter. For a moment he was downright entchanted and couldn't help but smile. This time it was a real smile. There was something beautiful about Saraan‘s laugh. When he perceived where thoughts and feelings were pulling him, he called himself to order again. 

"Uhm, yes, I'm sure it would look interesting." He said. Saraan looked at him again.  
"You said a prayer on the plateau, right? Before you left."  
Samuel nodded.  
"What was the prayer? To which entity? You seem to believe?" 

Samuel, out of habit, ran his fingers through the white hair and felt the braids Patricia woven on the side above his pointed ears. Saraan noticed this gesture. It was kind of lovely. 

"It was a prayer of thanksgiving. I addressed it not to my deities, but to whatever populates this place. It seemed right to me."  
Saraan looked at him thoughtfully.  
"Our faith, as you know, is different from yours. Among other things, we believe in reincarnation, worship people like Moshae and have priests. Some of us have lost ourselves in extreme beliefs, if you've heard of the Gloryseekers."  
Samuel affirmed.  
"There have been such beliefs on Earth. I suppose all religions are probably the same in that way. Fanatics are everywhere." 

Saraan took a sip from his cup. Samuel looked around. Aya's forests. They were so beautiful. He sometimes missed the tangled forests of Japan and the dark green forest at Thantos' refuge. Sadness was about to arise, but he quickly banished it again. Nevertheless, Saraan had noticed it in the soul diamonds of his eyes. He noticed a lot. But didn‘t say something. When Samuel looked at Saraan again, he realized that he still looked at him. Looking at him? Was he watching him all the time? That aroused a strange feeling in him. So he went on to say: 

"uhm, yes. My faith. Thantos Savallian taught me and my sister his faith. We worship three deities above all. Thantos and I pray to them before a fight and after."  
"What did you believe in before Thantos's teaching?" Saraan wanted to know.  
Samuel looked down at his cup as he answered, "Nothing at all." 

He replied softly, but he wanted to leave it at that. Death was the only thing that was certain for him then. He quickly went on: 

"I am grateful to have met Thantos. He has... taught me a lot." 

_He saved me from killing myself and gave me a new purpose in life_. That was what he actually wanted to say. But he kept quiet. 

„You mentioned he is your master. And you didn't deny being his slave, so you're not free?" Saraan asked again.  
"Well, no. Not really. but like I said, it's okay. this relationship is based on a kind of... tradition. " Samuel replied.  
"What tradition?" Saraan looked at him intently.

Samuel had long since stopped thinking about the importance of his standing and his relationship with Thantos. 

"It was all based on the earlier society forms between the drell and the hanar. The drell were once saved by the hanar from their dying planet. Their existence, their continued existence, was secured and from this a life debt arose, also called the Compact. This can be construed as a form of slavery. But most hanar do not see it that way and neither do the drell. It is more an honour for them to serve a hanar family. In the end I do have some kind of compact to Mr. Savallian.“

Saraan looked at the elf thoughtfully.  
"So Thantos Savallian saved your life?" He concluded.

Samuel nodded and lowered his eyes to his cup.

"How? And why?" Saraan wanted to know, but Samuel shook his head.  
"Never mind. He doesn‘t treat my like a slave. We are a family. That counts." He said quietly.

"You want to tell me about your family?" Samuel finally asked.  
"Garuhna and Laruhn I had the pleasure of meeting. They are very kind." 

Saraan, who had looked at Samuel like all the time, eager for knowledge and in his probing way, smiled gently. 

"My sister. Along with 15 other siblings, eight mothers and fathers and my real mother and father." Samuel was impressed.  
"Such a huge family!" 

The angaran families were just gigantic. Saraan's head swung slightly to and fro. 

"Oh, no, no. My family is quite small. There are much, much bigger ones. Whereas..." he thought and looked across the wooded plain of Aya. "With my 17 nephews and nieces, it is almost average."  
Samuel tried hard not to show his amazement. Almost average. Wow. 

"You have no children?"  
Saraan shook his head.  
"Or a wife? … I‘m sorry, if that question was too personal."  
Again Saraan shook his head.  
"It‘s okay. And...well..hm. My soul has not yet told me who my counterpart is." He answered. 

_That was a strange statement_ , Samuel thought to himself. Strange and yet familiar. And somehow romantic? Saraan wouldn't look at him. His soul had long since told him something and brought the colours alive. And they became more alive and his soul whispered louder whenever that pointy-eared man was near him. But he had not listened to it before and ignored it. He was confused. So ...confused. For weeks.

"Tell me about your home." Saraan asked Samuel after a while. His home, then.  
"Home is not what I call these places. More shelters. I haven't found my home yet, I guess." Samuel replied.  
"On Earth, I've spent most of my life in a town called Seattle." 

He told him what Megasprawl Seattle looked like in his memory. It was a busy, crowded city, one of the megasprawls, and not at all comparable to a city like Aya. If he compared the cities directly, Seattle was an ugly place. Nature did not exist in Seattle in that sense any more. 

"That's why I can hardly get enough of these woods and love to roam them." He admitted. 

He also talked about Kahje. He had spent the last years before the journey to Andromeda, in Thantos's home. 

"After he had brought me and my sister from Earth... ...after he had taken my life above all else. " He had not wanted to say his last words. But he had. Saraan looked at him questioningly.  
"What do you mean? Took your life?“ 

Samuel shook his head softly and took a sip from his glass. He didn't really want to talk about such dark subjects. He had just successfully avoided the issue. But Saraan seemed more curious. However, he was so gracious to Samuel that he did not pursue this subject further at first. He had had many questions about Seattle and the earth, which Samuel had answered as best he could. The evening had been very pleasant so far. The professor was a pleasant being and Saraan felt the same way about Samuel. But now the conversation entered more personal and darker paths. 

"I have no glorious past. My life has been... I‘ve done things one does not do.“ Said Samuel. 

He didn't want to talk about it. He really didn‘t want. Because he was actually a little afraid of the professor's reaction. But Saraan looked at him searchingly from his deep blue eyes, those galaxies where Samuel could lose himself completely if he wasn't careful. 

"What inglorious things have you done?" He asked. 

Samuel started to feel uncomfortable. Like being interrogated. Please, please don‘t ask, he begged in silence. But Saraan did. He wanted answers. And Samuel knew, he just knew, the other wouldn‘t be prepared. He breathed deeply. And decided to continue to treat the subject superficially. 

"On Earth, I was a shadowrunner. a mercenary who carries out missions that others do not. We did not officially exist. and often operated on the fringes of the law. Or exceeded it. A shadowrun is a criminal coup, a covert operation or something. You carry out a job and often get paid a lot of money for it." 

He lowered his eyes, let him wander off into the darkening jungle. 

"Tell me about this kind of business." He could feel Saraan's gaze resting on him.  
"You don't want to hear this." Samuel muttered and took another sip of his drink. 

Why was it so important to him that an alien being had no bad opinion of him? Wrong, that _Saraan_ didn't have a bad opinion of him? 

"Fine. If it was so profitable, why did you stop?" Now Saraan wanted to know. 

Samuel didn't look at him until after he had answered. 

"Because what I did was wrong. Not everything. But a lot. I've caused great harm to innocent people. And all because I wanted the money. Or rather, I needed it. I don't do that anymore. And I regret what I did." 

For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence between them. Saraan's face had become motionless. Samuel remembered their first encounter. Saraan was beginning to look exactly as she did that day. And he already hated were this was going.

"Tell me about your last shadow run that changed your attitude." 

Samuel puffed and briefly closed his eyes. He knew this was coming. Samuel thought long and hard. Honesty was now one of his virtues. It was important. But he also knew it would destroy the pleasant atmosphere.

Finally he told him. Told about the mission to neutralize a group of alleged terrorists who were supposedly threatening a corporation. He told how fast everything happened that night. How quickly the guards, who strangely enough were barely armed, had been eliminated. How easily the building had been mined. The squad‘s decker had locked all the doors by changing the door codes. The team knew how to get out. The opposition didn't. Samuel had worked his way up the outer wall and had only jumped into the building on the eighth floor. There, to his horror, he had seen the carnage that his team mates had already caused. There were no terrorists lying there, but women, children, apparently civilians, who had been hiding. Not only human beings but Asari and Salarians. Few had been left alive. Some children had been locked into an adjacent room. He had heard them scream. The building had already caught fire. He had followed his team mates. He had left the building. No help. None of the kids got out. Noone survived. He had just left. Bagged the money later. Nothing else. He later learned that one of his team had betrayed the group and knew and planned the whole thing. He had been able to find the guy and bring him down. But it didn't save innocent lives.

"I let them die. I knew they were there. And did nothing." Samuel whispered. 

Now that he talked about it, he felt - he hardly felt anything. A small fear of what was inevitable. He didn‘t look at the angara.

Saraan had listened in silence the whole time. Silent in the face of silent horror. He lowered his eyes and swallowed. Obviously this story was very close to him. And angara were more open with their feelings than any species Samuel had ever known. 

"You let them die. Innocent children." Saraan said. His voice sounded fragile. 

Samuel nodded and lowered his eyes. 

"I was an ignorant fool. A monster." 

He didn't mention that he'd had the same nightmare over and over since. Every week. Sometimes every night. And all the time he saw the red-haired girl in the window against a flaming background. He didn't mention that after that mission he had wanted to take his own life. And that's why Thantos now had it. He didn't want Saraan to feel sorry for him. Oh, no, he never would after this story, Samuel was certain. Saraan took a deep breath and finally shook his head gently. He emptied his glass. That was either the sign that he would get another one or that he wanted to leave now. The latter was the case. 

"I have to think about it. I don‘t know what to think about you now, Samuel. I'm sorry.". 

Samuel felt something harden inside him. He didn't react on the outside. Nodded. 

"It's okay." He answered quietly. 

Saraan stood up. Samuel did it slower, more like him. 

"Thanks for coming anyway. The drink's on me, of course." 

Saraan wouldn't look at him. And somehow that hurt Samuel. He tried to push that feeling aside. This time it didn‘t really work. "Thanks for this. Good night." Saraan said in a neutral way. With that, the professor disappeared. He could just as well have told him that he should now better throw himself over the viewing platform into the depths, because he hated him from now on. Samuel took a deep berath. Went to the bar, settled the bill, then headed back to the ship. He felt like shit. Just abysmally fucked.

The evening had been so nice, but then his past had to spoil everything for him. He was disappointed and angry. Angry at himself for being – well, who he was. Because his past was one he didn't want. But it was, and he had to deal with it. And now Saraan had to deal with it, too. That maybe all Humans are bad, whether they're a meta-race elf or not. In an apocalyptic mood he entered the ship and stomped towards the room, staring at his omnitool, checking all messages of his crew members without reading them. 

"Fuck it all..." he growled and ran straight into Varius.  
"Whoa, look out, Commander!". Samuel shrank back and looked at the turian.  
"Ah, sorry. I didn't see you.". Varius blinked.  
"Shouldn't you be on your date, what are you doing back so early?". Samuel rolled his eyes.  
"First of all, it wasn't a date and secondly - well. Whatever." 

He sighed. 

"I think I'll just get drunk alone at the ship's bar and go to sleep."  
Varius looked at him inquiringly for a few moments:  
"Shall I join you for this?" Samuel shrugged.  
"Sure, if you like."

Drinking alone wasn't as much fun after all. Fun doing what? Oh, it was a bad night. Drinking was all it took. That's right. 

A little later, they were sitting at the bar. It was quiet on the ship. Seems like everybody had flown the coop or was sleeping. Samuel was actually quite happy about it. He didn't feel like having Samara, Patricia, Teekoy or anyone else besieging and questioning him at all. Varius would certainly still do that. But he knew that he would be very discreet. He normally never meddled in other people's affairs. Unless you sat at the bar with these people and drank one glass of alcohol after another. The glasses had been emptied for the fourth time and the two of them were already a bit drowsy when 

Varius noticed: "hm, oh. The bottle is already empty." 

He got up from his stool and groped behind the counter, looking for another one. He ripped the bellies off one of his claw-like fingers.  
"That would be something." 

He judged and pulled out a shiny black and blue bottle. Samuel looked at the one he'd chosen. He was already a little dizzy after he'd taken a load of volus wine. But he needed that. 

"Turian vodka." He read it. „You know that would kill me? But maybe that‘s a good idea.“ He said and was about to pour the deadly alcohol into his glass. Varius took it away immediately and poured him salarian brandy instead. 

"You better stay alive, or I won't have anyone left to gawk at." Said Varius brazenly.  
Samuel laughed softly. "Jake and Thantos are attractive too."  
"Not my type. Thantos may be sexy, but he's not my type. Plus he's too old for me."  
Samuel almost choked on his drink.  
"He's not that old!“  
Varius giggled.  
"Could be your father rather than your brother, couldn't he?"  
"I don't know. As far as I know, he's about 10 or 12 years older than me. Or 15?“  
"Told you, your father."  
"Bullshit."

Good that Thantos did not hear this now, Samuel thought, amused. He really wouldn't be amused that Varius had indirectly called him grandpa. But Trox was much older. The krogan was probably the oldest on board besides the Asari, Dr. Ven'Tisa. The salarian brandy was also emptied three-quarters of the way through. The stuff was more treacherous than anyone expected. 

"At first you don't expect this vodka having so much power. And then, bam, it strikes!" Said Samuel, noting how his lips and tongue did not form the words as correctly as they should.  
"Just like turians!" Grinning Varius.  
„But turians are also strong, one knows that.“ Samuel grinned back and raised his glass.  
Varius gave him a flirty smile and added: „and they‘re really, really good in bed. At least I am.“ 

Samuel blinked at his drinking buddy for a few silent seconds.  
"I think that's enough. I...phew." He shook his head. "Should be halfway clear. As... commander and captain of this ship." 

Varius pushed him from the side.  
"Ah'was. You can let yourself go. Tonight, you seem to have reason to." Samuel sighed.  
„Did he leave you?“ 

Asked Varius and Samuel looked at him. Gods, it sounded like he was with Saraan and they had just broken up. He didn't even want to think about it. 

"Well, in a broader sense. He was there. And he asked about my past. I have... never told it to anyone. I shouldn't have done either. Or made up anything. But... I'm honest. He couldn't handle the truth. I got a fucked-up past. I'm not proud of it. I wish I could change it, but I can't." 

He growled and reached for the bottle. Varius pushed it away and grabbed Samuel's hand instead. The elf looked at the turian who looked back. 

"Maybe I can sweeten your night a little more." Varius whispered and created a strange feeling in Samuel. 

Interest, some fear and fascination, coupled with today's attitude: Fuck it all. With the conscience still present, if not quite so alert. 

He hesitated with the answer, "uhm, I... don't know if we should get intimate."  
Varius smiled: "I was actually thinking about a massage. I've been told many times that I'm very good at it, but ... if you'd rather have me make you moan, that's just as well for me." 

He grinned and Samuel blushed slightly. He cleared his throat quietly and lowered his eyes.

"Massage, huh? Well, why not." He replied. "I'm going to take a shower." That would help clear his head. 

He interpreted Varius' expression very correctly: "alone." He added.  
"Oh." The turian mimed the offended, but was visibly amused. 

About twenty minutes later Varius entered the captain's quarters, which were a little smaller than the emissary's, but had quite a lot to offer. More than Samuel claimed for himself, but no one complained. 

"Hmm, very nice here. The crew quarters don't have such a good view." Said Varius, looking out a window through which one could actually see the jungle of Aya. 

Samuel had refrained from fully dressing again and had only put on underwear and loose-fitting black trousers. Varius looked at him as he turned to him. He could not help but murmur with relish when he saw his commander like that.

"Mmmh, no, we definitely do not have a view like that." The flanging effect of his turian voice gave the murmur something seductive. 

Samuel, trying to ignore this sound, drove his hand through his white hair. A completely notorious gesture, because you do that sometimes when you have longer hair, yet it made him even more attractive to the turian. 

"Normally I would say, keep your hands to yourself. In this case, I think we can make an exception." He said, smiling slightly.  
"Indeed." Varius replied. 

Samuel seemed unsettled. He looked back and forth between the turian and the bed.  
"I, uhm... shall I, I think the bed...?"  
Varius chuckled. "I haven't even started and you're all nervous. Don't worry, I won't eat you." 

Nibbling, on the other hand, would be a viable option it crossed his mind. He pointed to the bed with a claw. 

"But, yes, you would make my task easier if you would lie down." 

Samuel was nervous, indeed. And it wasn't just because he didn't like turning his back on anyone. Now he made himself extremely vulnerable, even though he could assume that Varius was up to no harm. Perhaps it was also the fact that he was in his private room with another man, regardless of species, who made no secret of the fact that he found him attractive and had specific fantasies.

Samuel sat down on his bed with one knee after he had pushed the blanket aside and slid down to the pillow before he lay down with his stomach. He turned his head sideways and bedded him on his forearms. Varius waited and watched the elf, looked at his slightly tanned upper body, on which some thin scars from old injuries were visible. This made him look adventurous. He would give him a relaxing massage. But maybe his boss would want more? He would more than welcome it. 

"I remember Patricia gave me... well, she gave me some angara oil as an excuse for rumour I had something with an angara." Samuel said. 

Today he was amused about that silly issue. But he didn't think it was funny then.  
"Perfect." Smirked, Varius. "Which makes me wonder why she bought you oil." 

The fleeting silence that prevailed told Varius that Samuel hadn't thought about it until now. 

"I...have no idea." He answered. 

The bottle was quickly found. _Perhaps the oil could be used more multifunctionally in the future_ , Varius thought amusedly. He knelt on the bed next to Samuel. 

"You don't like soft mattresses either." He said. That made the massage easier.  
Samuel nodded: "On my homeworld I often slept on mats. On the eastern side of the Earth, they often did this." 

He could smell the oil. It had a subtle smell of wood and fruit. A pleasant smell and somehow it seemed familiar. Although he tried to relax, he didn't expect to be touched and flinched weakly. 

"Just relax. It's not easy for a fighter to have someone behind him, I know." Varius whispered to him before he began massaging the elf's neck. "I'm in that mode most of the time, too. But now you can relax. Trust me." 

The last three words were almost whispered. The sound of the turian voice with its so distinctive flanging effect made it sound strange and yet pleasant. And somehoew quite sexy. Varius had an attractive voice, Samuel had to admit. The turian suddenly stopped what he was doing. 

"Hmm, I'm going to change my sitting position." He warned Samuel before he felt Varius cautiously sit on his butt. "It is easier that way. We can also move the whole thing to the floor if you're uncomfortable with that." 

It was indeed. But Samuel said, "no, that's okay. I'll call you if it's becoming uncomfortable."  
Varius continued to work on Samuel's neck and soon on his shoulders.  
"You're really tense." He noted and teasingly added: "Maybe I should do it more often, huh?"

Samuel smiled weakly, even though Varius could not see his face.  
"I don't think I've ever been massaged before."  
"It feels like that." Joked Varius. Samuel tried to relax. 

And indeed, as time passed, he succeeded. Varius' knew surprisingly well where to put his hands to release tension. 

"You're doing really well." Samuel spoke sluggishly after what felt like an eternity.  
„I hear that often in bed.“ Varius answered, causing Samuel to open his eyes and blush a bit. Fortunately Varius couldn‘t see his reaction. He quickly distracted by asking: 

"How do you know human anatomy so well?" He pulled a face as Varius worked on a flank muscle.  
"I once had a human partner." He replied. 

Samuel had noticed the pause before Varius replied. 

"Why not anymore? If...this question is not too personal." He hissed softly as Varius felt further hardenings and massaged. He worked his way down very slowly and leisurely, without changing the intensity, even though the subject did not quite please him, as Samuel could hear in his voice.  
"It turned out he was not who I thought he was." Said Varius.  
"I'm... sorry about that."  
"Don't be. At any rate, he has enabled me to deepen my knowledge of human anatomy. And how to give a human man the greatest possible pleasure..." 

His voice regained an amused sound because he knew he was putting his commander again in an awkward situation where he didn't know how to react. That was kind of cute.

The alcohol still kept him in a slightly befogged state. But the shower had worked wonders. However his body began to show signs of fatigue. And this was not without reason. Varius's massage skills were brilliant. After another little eternity he muttered: 

"I apologize...if I should fall asleep.". 

Varius smiled. In the meantime he had arrived at the loin area and was sitting on Samuel's thighs.  
"For me, that would only mean that I do my job well."  
Samuel nodded lazily.  
"Very well. I just...don't know yet how I'm going to return the favor. I'm not very good at massages. And as I don‘t have a lot of knowledge about turian anatomy, I... I honestly wouldn't know where to begin." 

Varius laughed softly. He finally let his claw-like hands rest on Samuel's buttocks and looked at the human body beneath him. He was satisfied. Very content. Being so close to his boss was great. But he personally wanted more. And he was almost certain that Wolfsbane would like it too. Maybe he should be a little bolder? Samuel felt a slight pressure and how Varius moved before he heard the turian‘s voice close to his ear. 

"I might have a way for you to return the favor.." 

He let his hands gently glide over the elf's flanks so that Samuel got goose bumps. He slowly opened his eyes again. Varius left his words, the breath of what he might have meant, in the room for a few seconds. 

"But perhaps you are too tired for that. Or too shy?" He smiled.  
"Both, I think." Samuel replied quietly. 

Indeed he was too tired now. Maybe that was better, otherwise he would have tensed up again because of nervousness. 

"Hmm, too bad." Whispered Varius and couldn't help but run the tip of his tongue very thinly over the edge of the elf's ear. 

Slowly, very slowly the turian rose from Samuel's body. He remained kneeling next to the elf as he turned on his back. His eyes, as bright as diamonds, shimmered matt. Varius returned the look. Damn, that was just too tempting! He had to control himself not to pounce on his boss. But he was tired too. 

"Thank you, Varius. It was really relaxing."  
Samuel said, smiling tiredly. Varius replied, 

"Anytime, Commander." _And then much more_ , he added in his mind before he left the captain's quarters. 

He already had plans how to persuade him. Next time, he'd go a step further.


	5. Chapter 4: Eventless Hours?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: homoerotical scenes - don't read if you don't like it!**

Varius could hardly forget the evening with his boss. It had been surprisingly pleasant and had even given him the opportunity to touch the white-haired man's desirable body more intensely. He knew that he was gifted in massaging others and had also shamelessly used his skills. But he wanted more. And he was persistent. Maybe he would get Wolfsbane to come around. Samuel however, had his mind on something or more someone else. The evening with Saraan was still hanging over him and to his annoyance he realized that he was troubled by the fact that he didn't get to see the professor the following days or even weeks. But perhaps that was better. At some point he reminded himself to be professional again and to get all this emotional stuff out of the way. Nevertheless he often caught himself thinking about him. Thinking about his blue eye galaxies. The APEX headquarters had been conspicuously inconspicuous in the last few days. Normally there were hail of missions that required special handling. Samuel was all the more pleased when after more than a week of radio silence something finally came in. The HQ had given the spec ops squad a new mission. It took place on Kadara and, according to the description, was primarily observation. Samuel read the mission, which ended with these words, among others: "It should be an easy assignment." He raised his eyebrows, but didn't speak up at first. 

"Sounds easy." Said Nakmor Trox Ghurak, after skimming the description.  
"Boring, I would almost say." Varius added. 

There would be three of them on the mission. Thantos Savallian, who was normally part of this team, had accompanied Samara to a meeting on Eos. 

"Or what do you think, Commander?" Varius looked at Samuel.  
"If I've learned one thing during my time in the shadows, it's that this very phrase will make this mission anything but quiet." Samuel replied.  
"Oh, if things get rough, I'll take care of you, Commander, don't worry." Varius said, hinting at a flirty grin. 

Trox made a face like an old sponge and rolled his eyes. Samuel, however, turned to Varius. He saw that one of the straps of the ammunition belt was loose on the Turian's stomach. While he looked deep into Varius' eyes in a sovereign way, his hands reached for the belt. 

"Better concentrate on the mission, sniper." 

He spoke coolly and at that moment he tightened the strap so firmly that Varius groaned softly. Samuel released him again and turned around, heading for the ground vehicle that would bring them to the nav point. Trox laughed softly and Varius blinked in bewilderment before he grinned meaningful.

From Kadara Port they headed towards Haarfel. According to the first observation report, pillagers of the "New Order" were roaming there. The suqad was to review this report and take further action if confirmed. Nothing more had been heard from Haarfel or the pillager hideout, but the Nexus wanted to make sure that the former refugee camp, which had now been converted into a plant research and breeding station and was named "Ex Satus Paara", which could be translated as "Learning from Plants", was safe from attack. The station was used to research endemic plants and to try to cultivate both edible and medicinal plants. But as was the case with many remedies, the dose made the poison. DNA research on the plants had shown, among other things, that effective drugs could be produced if one had certain extracts, fibres, seeds, plant sap, endogenous or exogenous conditions. It was possible to produce both combat and pleasure drugs, or drugs with other effects with more or less addictive potential, and that this interested the New Order surprised no one. It was all the more surprising that Ex Satus Paara had so far remained undisturbed. Why the Nexus APEX HQ had now given the order was simple: the New Order had been sighted near the station and only yesterday had sent some kind of scout past, who, however, managed to escape. So now a precautionary reaction was taken. The three-man team took up position in an abandoned two-story building about half a kilometer from the station. The duration of the assignment was only approximately fixed. "Up to 36 hours" was to be observed. The day went quietly. Damn quiet. Too quiet. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happened. In short, it was deadly boring. At night, they pushed shifts of guards to keep an eye on the surroundings. 

It was Varius‘ shift and he was just monitoring the surroundings with the help of his observation drone "Oculus 8" when he noticed his commander, who was lying one and a half meters away from him in his sleeping bag, throwing himself restlessly back and forth and then scared out of sleep. Varius waited for a few moments until the elf had oriented himself and then asked quietly, without taking his eyes off the surroundings he was searching with binoculars.

"Nightmares?" Samuel was sitting in his sleeping bag staring into space when he heard Varius' voice. He nodded.  
"Yes." He whispered, but would not elaborate. He looked at the turian. "All quiet?" He asked in a whisper and Varius just nodded. 

Oculus 8 was flying over the rock formations. Trox was asleep as his snoring clearly indicated. Samuel laid down again. He had had the previous watch and should try to sleep. Unfortunately, this was often a problem when he was woken by the nightmare that was always the same one: a rain-soaked road, lights from street lamps breaking on the asphalt. Screams emanate from inside the building, recent explosions shake it and slowly make it collapse. Fire, smoke fills the night air. He stands there like paralyzed and sees steel beams collapsing. Then a soot-smeared face, framed by red hair, appears at a window. A girl stares at him before the smoke devours it. Like the eidetic memory of a drell, he could call this scenario into his mind over and over again. For years now. He was doomed to it. 

"Had nightmares for a time. You have to finish thinking about them when you're awake, then they go away, I've heard." Said Varius softly.  
"No use." Said Samuel. "It won't go away."

About ten minutes went by. Varius assumed that his commander had fallen asleep again. But then he perceived a movement and shortly afterwards saw Samuel get up with a grumpy snort and leave the room. He looked after him, then entered some new programming into his omnitool. Oculus 8 received new commands. It now took over much of the surveillance and would notify its owner at the slightest anomaly. Varius could then immediately access the drone's camera, which of course had perfect night vision, and check if an alarm needed to be given. He left his position and followed Samuel. He had made his way up to the viewing platform in the smaller room there. He had put his hands on the windowsill and looked out onto the dark plain. In the distance the lights of Ex Satus Paara were glowing. Now and then lights passed by the firmament, but disappeared again. The drone was nowhere to be seen. But that was also the purpose of the thing. Stars glittered in the dark firmament. It was so quiet that one could hear Trox's snoring from the lower floor. Varius approached Samuel and looked at his slender figure. The white hair seemed to shimmer in the dull night light like moonstone. Why, of all people, did his superior have to be a guy who was just for biting? He licked his lips. 

"Shall I help you sleep?" He asked. Samuel glanced over his shoulder. "Mm. Do you know any massage techniques for that? 

Varius stood close behind the white-haired man. "To a certain extent.“ He replied. 

He put his claw hands gently on his shoulders, where, somewhat delayed, he began to knead the hardenings he felt. Samuel held still. Soon he closed his eyes and lowered his head. Varius resisted the temptation to touch the slightly tanned skin in the neck of Samuel with his lips only with difficulty. He pushed one leg slightly forward and thus moved a little closer to his commander. 

"Mmh, if you hadn't become an APEX agent and been hired on the Phoenix, I'm sure you'd have had great success as a masseur." Samuel said.  
Varius laughed softly. "Yes, perhaps." 

Slowly, the commander, plagued by nightmares, seemed to relax. Samuel hardly noticed how he leaned slightly against Varius while he relaxed his shoulders. He suppressed a pleasant growl. He liked that. His kneading movements became more caressing. Slowly his claws slid over the other man's back, deeper, towards his hips and remained there for a few seconds. Varius sank briefly into thought. Shit, he wanted him so badly. There was nothing going on outside anyway. So why not at least a little play?

"I can give you even more relaxation. I guarantee you'll find it …. very easy to fall asleep after that." He purred in his ear. Samuel again had to admit that Varius' flanging voice sounded really tempting when he had certain ambitions, which he had noticed when he was massaging him. Okay, he had noticed for a longer lasting time.

A noise coming from outside through the window made them both look up. Samuel immediately detached himself from Varius and grabbed his binoculars to inspect the surroundings. Varius saw his omnitool flashing. He retrieved the data from the drone. 

"Mh, just a rylkor. The beast ventured too close to Ex Satus Paara," he quickly specified. 

It was a false alarm. Stupid son of a bitch that animal, Varius got annoyed. Samuel put the binoculars back on the table that was by the window on the wall.

"I wonder if the New Order has a plan or if they just happened to be in the area and left." 

Varius stood beside Samuel at the window and looked out. The field lay completely still again. 

„Usually attacks take place best at night. Well, it does seem like it's going to be a very quiet mission." 

Samuel kept looking out the window until two claw hands grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him away from the window. Varius looked at him.

"You really should get some sleep, Commander."  
Samuel nodded softly and sighed softly. "I know." 

He looked up at the turian who looked back at him. He faltered. And all of a sudden, the situation changed. He had noticed this tension in the air. And now, in a matter of seconds, it increased and it was on him, too. 

"I-I'll be off then..." he mumbled in a barely audible way. He avoided Varius' gaze and wanted to get away from him, with the plan to leave the room and go back downstairs. 

But Varius also had noticed the change and obviously wanted to put his plans into action. He stopped Samuel and pulled him close, putting an arm around him. Samuel looked up at him in surprise. Varius was after all ten centimetres taller than him. Without speaking any further - Varius had decided that he didn't want to talk anymore - he put a claw under Samuel's chin and fixed it before he pressed his lips to those of the elf. Fuck it, he was alone with him and he wanted him now. Samuel froze. And let the kiss happen. This motivated the turian all the more. He took this as an opportunity to direct him to the wall and pressed him against it.

Samuel was completely perplexed. He wanted to defend himself and push Varius away. His hands therefore went to the chest of the other to lay down to push against it, when Varius became even more foolhardy and the claw, which did not hold the chin of the elf, moved between Samuel's legs, where it immediately started to caress with pressure. Samuel opened his mouth to a surprised, excited gasp and Varius used this opportunity to run his tongue between the other man's lips. Samuel felt how the deliberate rubbing quickly made his trousers tight. _What the heck?_ He felt how he became horny, and before he knew it, he had started to return the kiss with a gasp, while his hands were on Varius' chest. _Fuck, what was he doing here?! Not good, not good!_ This went through his head in half a panic. His pants became tighter as Varius pressed himself against him with an excited growl. He let go of Samuel's chin, sure that he didn't want to push him away anymore and drove with his hand to the pants of the elf to open them. Samuel made a soft groan, excited and tormented at the same time, and finally pulled his head to the side, ending the kiss. 

"B-bad idea, stop..stop it...!" he gasped. Gods, somehow this turned him on to the extreme.  
Varius paused and looked at him.  
"Could be quite painful now to try to sleep with a hard-on." he whispered. "I won't go too far, don't worry. But I‘ll make you enjoy it, I promise." 

Shit, it seemed Varius was right about that. He was in desperate need of relief now. Since his boss did not protest any further, Varius continued to undo his trousers. He too had long been hard and breathed out in relief when he opened his reinforced trousers. Then he pressed his lower body against the smaller one and while he pressed his lips back onto Samuels, he took his and Samuels erect penis firmly into a claw and started to massage them both. Samuel moaned into the kiss and closed his eyes while he put his arms around the turian's armored neck, pressing closer to him. The turian was only too happy to let this happen and growled lustfully into the kiss as he quickly moved his hand up and down. The tightness and friction that was created was terrific. He released the kiss and bit Samuel in the throat with light pressure from excitement. He suppressed a groan of pain, because the teeth of a turian were sharp and pointed. 

"Gnnhh, d-don't!" he hissed softly.  
"Sorry. I'm just so crazy about you, Commander." Varius gasped. 

It was really hard for him to restrain himself. He wanted to do so much more. He soon felt that he was close to climax. He had probably been much more excited than Samuel and could hardly hold back. He did not really want to. He came a few moments before Samuel and gritted his sharp teeth so as not to moan too loudly before pressing Samuel against the wall and massaging him even harder. Trembling, he came into Varius' hand, who continued to massage him at the climax. He pressed his lips on Samuels to muffle the moaning of pleasure that penetrated his throat until he felt the tension leave his boss's body. 

They remained panting for several heartbeats. Samuel felt his body shake a little. Varius was still nestled against him, panting beside his head, his forehead leaning against the wall.

"Mmm, that was good." Varius whispered with relish. 

Lost in thought, he ran a claw across Samuel's thigh to his belly. Satisfied, he finally let go and gave him some air to breathe. Wisps of his white hair had found their way into his face, which was shimmering with lust. His cheeks were slightly reddened. Varius looked at him and tilted his head slightly. Damn, he could fuck him all night long. But he would hold himself back. He wiped his claw on the cloth shirt under his armour and looked at Samuel, who slowly came down again. He looked dull. But after all, that was the intention. 

"Jackass." Finally, he rumbled softly. 

He would have liked to smack across Varius‘ face, but he was too tired. Hell, yes, he was tired. The least thing.

"Be mad if you want. You can't deny that you're much more relaxed now than you were before. And you liked it. Commander." Varius grinned triumphanty.  
"Shut up. Don't dare to do that again, otherwise I throw you out of the airlock." Samuel growled. 

It didn't sound very believable. That's why Varius kept smiling. He raised one hand and gently stroked Samuel's cheek. He slapped the hand and Varius immediately pulled it back, as if Samuel was an angry cat that was slapping his claws. 

"Okay, okay, I'll leave you alone. Still need my hands." he giggled softly. Samuel closed his trousers and parted from the wall. His legs suddenly gave way in that moment. He could catch himself, but Varius held him down too. 

"Wow, careful, cutie." he smiled.  
Samuel tore himself away from his cocky squad member and stepped past him.  
"Don‘t call me that! I'm okay. Just... continue your shift."

He groped out of the room. Varius looked after him, still smiling in triumph. He definitly would be bolder from now on. Samuels knees were still soft. But he had to admit that his body was more relaxed. Maybe he really could sleep better now. That did not mean that he was grateful to Varius for this assault! Even though it felt pretty damn good. He could actually sleep a little better. And the nightmare did not haunt him that night.


	6. Chapter 5: Riding Rylkors

Chapter 6 Riding Ryncols

The next day was as quiet as the hours before until the afternoon. There was nothing to hear or see of the New Order. Samuel began to believe that, for once, the ominous phrase "it will be a quiet mission" really did apply. This would be the first time in his life. He had hardly exchanged a word with Varius during the day and had ignored him as far as possible. Trox either hadn't noticed or simply wasn't interested. Varius had of course noticed that his commander was angry with him, but left him alone for the time being. He probably still had to process the past night. He himself did not regret anything. He had enjoyed it and would have liked to spend half the night with the handsome white-haired man. Unfortunately, they were still on their mission and more than this erotic intermezzo was not possible. As the day drew to a close, Samuel was on the roof of one of the buildings of the research station. In the meantime, they had decided to postpone their guard duty. If the bandits of the New Order should think of an attack after all, they would be on the spot immediately. The tip came from Varius and that was the only time Samuel had paid attention to him up to that point and since then. Anyway, the station was a more pleasant place than the abandoned dump. He was still glad when they could leave here, maybe there was really something to do again. It was so dull up here that he had leaned on the transmitter masts that stood up here and looked bored across the plain. Except for the wildlife of Kadara and the shuttles of the station landing and taking off at irregular intervals, nothing happened. Samuel leaned the back of his head against the metal of the mast and took a deep breath when he suddenly noticed a movement in the corner of his eye. In a flash he had drawn his gun, jumped away from the transmitter and targeted the person who had sneaked up on him. Varius immediately raised both hands in defense. 

"Whoa, take it easy." He smiled.  
Samuel snorted softly and lowered his gun again.  
"Is there anything?" He asked briefly.  
"I wonder how much longer you're going to give me the cold shoulder." Said Varius.  
Samuel stared at him. His squad member didn't really ask that question now, did he?  
"For as long as it takes."  
Varius took a few steps towards him.  
"You should act out your feelings, or perhaps more your needs, more often. You would be much more relaxed."  
Samuel interrupted him: "firstly: we are on a mission and have to be focused, no matter how boring our task may be and secondly my feelings and needs are absolutely none of your business.“ He growled. 

Then he faltered and looked at Varius in a state of uncertainty. 

"You... are... asking me right now but not indirectly if we... have a relationship?!"  
he stammered. Varius gave a quiet laugh and shook his head while standing in front of Samuel. 

"No, no, I am not asking that at all. I'm just here for fun." He looked deep into his eyes and whispered: "Physical activities. Feelings are just disturbing."  
Samuel looked back and immediately felt uncomfortable. But he would not take a step back. 

"Just....fun." He repeated slowly in a deep, tantalizing voice. 

With one claw he drove over the elf's chest. But this caused Samuel to turn away from Varius. 

"Leave that alone, everyone can see us up here." He murmured softly. And swallowed. His throat had become dry. Varius smiled and looked at him.  
"We can go somewhere else if you like." He did not think of stopping flirting now.  
But Samuel was not pleased. That was enough. He turned to Varius:  
"listen, sniper, this was a one-time thing and we should-..."

A bright spot of light and an explosion made the building they were on vibrate. Samuel and Varius turned their gaze around and looked to the source of the tumult. A building opposite the station had caught fire. Thick black smoke was rising into the air from the rear. Samuel lost no time and climbed down from the roof of the building. Varius followed him immediately and unlocked his weapon. First civilians, mainly scientists, rushed towards him. Trox came stomping out of another building and joined his comrades. 

"What happened there?" he asked. "The New Order?"  
Samuel looked around: "I don't know yet, but keep your eyes open and help the civilians!" 

He ordered. Green smoke now came out of the burning building. Samuel paused and grabbed the krogan who was rushing on and made him aware of it. A short scan revealed a highly toxic cocktail of various substances and plant extracts. 

"Why the fuck do they have this here on the station?" Trox asked.  
"The explosion caused an amalgamation of various substances in the laboratory, my mixture calculations show an extremely increased concentration of toxic rashes, which currently makes a separation procedure difficult." Babbled an excited salarian scientist in between.  
"What was that? Didn‘t understand anything?!" Growled Trox. 

Samuel looked up at the building from the scientist. 

"It means people's lives are in danger, helmets on and inside the building!" Samuel said, before he put his helmet on. Trox and Varius did the same and ran to the burning building. 

Samuel followed his squad mates first, but then he stopped in mid-movement. Varius and Trox ran on. He paused for a few milliseconds and stared at the stony ground when an intuition came to him. He turned towards a building, activated the jetpack of his armor and jumped onto the roof. There he looked around. The work in the shadows had taught him a lot. So did the fact that if you wanted something and knew that there were capable opponents who wanted to prevent you from getting it, you had to go for it. For example, by creating a distraction. Creating enough chaos and then striking when everyone was busy with something else. 

The sirens were blaring, soldiers and civilians were running around, instructions were shouted over loudspeakers. The green smoke began to spread. Alliance shuttles rose into the air with fleeing civilians and soldiers. He could see Trox and Varius, who brought more scientists out of the building. Trox carried one human on his shoulder and one under his arm. It was more by chance that Samuel suddenly saw a green vehicle begin to move away from the station. It did not carry any known Alliance markings and did not go to the station's rally point, but headed towards the road that led into Kurinth's Valley. Samuel started to move. He ran across the roof and used the thrust of his jetpack to jump to the next roof and then to the nearest watchtower. From there he could watch the vehicle. He jumped off as it passed underneath him and landed on the roof with a very audible muffled bang. The guys now knew they had company, so he had to act quickly. 

"Trox, Varius, green vehicle heading northwest!" he shouted into his helmet microphone before he was knocked to the ground. 

The driver tried to shake him off by accelerating. Samuel struggled to hold on, but managed to do so. Thank the gods there was well-equipped battle armour! The reinforced gloves, improved by magnetic technology, enabled him to hold on as tight as possible, even if he was torn to and fro on the roof. In the vehicle they made every effort to get rid of him. In the narrow valley just before Kurinth's Valley, the driver abruptly changed tactics and made an emergency stop. The guy had understood what physics was and took his victory. Samuel wasn torn forward due to the sudden standstill with immense force and flew off the vehicle. He bounced hard on the ground and rolled a little uncontrolled over the rocky ground, where he lay disoriented for a few seconds. He leaned on his elbows and shook his head. The roar of an engine warned him. Just in time, he was able to roll to the side before the green vehicle would have rolled over him and probably broke all the bones in his body with his total weight and heavy tires. He jumped up, but the vehicle was already too far away for him to attach himself to it. To make matters worse, there was also a landslide that made it difficult to continue with a ground vehicle. Nakmor Trox Ghurak and Varius Talorian arrived in the gorge a few seconds later.

"Shit! Dirty pyjags." Trox cursed. "We might be able to get across, but it'll take time."  
Samuel jumped on the rocks and looked around. The green vehicle got smaller and smaller.  
"We're losing them.“ He snorted and looked around frantically.

Nearby, behind the landslide, he finally discovered a very exotic way to travel. Samuel didn't struggle long and jumped down from the rocks. He ran towards some kind of dinosaur with broad head, moving on two strong legs. It was a rylkor, who had now discovered him too and decided that he was a much more rewarding meal than all the vermin here. 

"Boss?!" He heard Varius calling after him. 

Samuel hurried on towards the reptile, activating a comparatively low-risk force and latching onto the slight consciousness of the animal, which rushed towards him growling and snorting. Samuel stretched out an arm and spread the fingers of his gloved hand. The rylkor growled threateningly and wanted to run Samuel down. But when his snout touched the adept's hand, he became instantly calmer. Samuel looked at the animal through his visor and stood still in a stable position. His hand moved to the forehead of the big reptile. It growled again. Then it held still. 

The green vehicle raced on and inside, sure to have finally shaken off the chaser, the passenger stared incredulously at the monitor that scanned the outside environment and recorded an anomaly. Something had picked up their chase. A very weird looking rylkor ran after them as if possessed. 

"Boy?" Samuel heard Trox's voice through his helmet microphone. "Are you riding on a damn huge lizard?"  
"Affirmative.“ Samuel answered.  
"Waahahaha, you're a real nutcase!"

The sound was briefly distorted uncomfortably in the helmet microphone when he heard Trox laughing loudly. It intensified his headaches that had been caused by the use of the ki force, but he could not take any notice of that now.

"Almost got the guys, send you the nav point as soon as I can." Gave Samuel back.

He held on with all his strength to the animal that ran across the plain like the wind. The vehicle was just a green dot in the distance, but the rylkor had stamina and kept running. They approached a plateau, which was marked by heavy battle scars. Even though nature had long since reclaimed the furrows, one could still see the traces of battle left here by the architect, called "Old Skinner" by fanatics, ten years ago when the legendary Pathfinder Ryder fought here and defeated the relic monster. Until today these massive robotic beasts appeared on different planets, but mostly disappeared again quickly into the orbit. Northwest of the former battlefield the green vehicle finally disappeared between rocks. Samuel rode up to 300 meters to the rock formation and then descended from the rylkor near the rocks, which just stopped. He called up the environmental data. A former mineral mining area was about 250 meters behind him. Samuel stayed close to the rocks because on open ground he was an easy target. He hurried along the rocks and could finally spot a prominent indentation. Perhaps an entrance. His squad mates received the nav point and instructions to park the vehicle safely. Samuel, however, stayed on the rock face, pressed tightly against it and tried to look around the corner when something suddenly nudged him from behind. The rylkor had followed him. 

"Go back!" Samuel hissed softly and pushed the snout of the snorting reptile from his helmet before turning his head, as sounds were coming from the other direction. 

About 100 meters away, a heavily armed and armored figure stepped out from between the rocks and looked around. Samuel watched him closely and was suddenly pushed forward with a powerful jerk. He could just barely catch himself on the rock face before he would probably have come within sight of the armed figure. The rylkor probably didn't like the fact that he didn't get any attention anymore. The animal was still under the influence of the ki force and Samuel knew what would happen if it stopped working. 

"No, bad rylkor!" Samuel hissed softly. "Trox, Varius, where are you?" he asked in a subdued voice.  
"Almost there." Trox said.  
"Hey, you got a new boyfriend, boss? Should I be jealous?" Did it come from Varius. 

Samuel rolled his eyes. Couldn't this guy actually stay professional for once? As he turned his head forward one more time, the barrel of a Falcon Assault Rifle suddenly stared at him. 

"Stand up. Very slowly." A voice growled tinny through the helmet microphone. 

The heavily armed man had discovered him. Samuel raised his hands and slowly rose from his crouch. The rylkor behind him began to growl and scratch with his powerful claw feet. Samuel's opponent was apparently irritated by the animal that seemed to be the companion of his prisoner. The animal apparently saw the gunman as a threat to his "friend" and pushed forward. The armed man tore his rifle around and aimed at the reptile. Samuel was about to attack at the moment when a well-aimed shot from the side tore a hole in the opponent's helmet, which froze and a few seconds later tipped back like a stone. Samuel looked around and discovered Varius, who was just casually strolling up and reloading his rifle. Trox stomped along beside him and shouldered his powerful war hammer. Samuel nodded at them. Samuel, Trox, Varius and the rylkor, who simply couldn't be shaken off, approached the entrance. Where ten years ago there had only been an indentation, now a cave had been dug into the rock. Various containers, crates and barrels stood after the entrance on the wall of a tunnel that led deeper into the interior and was wide enough for a vehicle to drive through. 

"We'd better get reinforcements." Samuel said through the subvocal microphone and gave the order to retreat. 

It was too risky if there were only three of them. Well, three of them, with a very affectionate rylkor. Samuel had made the right decision. No sooner had they gone into hiding than four fighters swarmed out and discovered their gunned down comrade, whom they carried into the cave. Then three of the fighters took position in front of the cave.

They had the nav point now, but they didn't know how many enemies were there. It could be five or fifty. The krogan of course liked the idea of fighting so many enemies.

"They are wimps. They only look dangerous, but they can't do anything." Said Trox.

Samuel looked at Varius. "Do you have one of your drones that can keep an eye on this?"

Varius activated his omnitool and quickly typed in a few commands while speaking: "with a good biofeedback filter, the improved autosoft for misdirection, signal cleaners and encryption should be...".  
"Talorian. Admonished him Samuel annoyed.  
"Yes, she can stay here and keep an eye on things." Replied the turian, who was an excellent sniper as well as a very good vehicle and drone rigger, but sometimes liked to get lost in his shop talk and special terms.

It took only a moment before an object hardly larger than a butterfly flew out of Varius' side pocket. It whirred away quietly. 

"Perfect." Said Samuel. The drone would soon transmit its data to Varius and then they would know what they were dealing with. And above all, with how many enemies. The trio could retreat to the vehicle unseen. The only thing the rylkor could think of along the way was that he suddenly had no desire to be friendly anymore and, just before they reached the ground vehicle, jumped Trox onto the armored back. Although the krogan had not expected the attack, he managed to deal with the reptile so easily that neither Samuel nor Varius had to intervene. It was impressive how the massive warrior attacked the beast and finally defeated it.

"Remind me never to challenge you to close combat." Said Varius. He looked at his omnitool. "By the way, good thing the three of us didn't run into the cave. There are at least six heavy mechs in there, I see several gun emplacements, and, uuh..."  
Samuel stepped beside him and looked at the omnitool. The drone was transmitting images from inside a large cave.  
"what?" Asked Samuel and raised one eyebrow. "is that..."  
Now Trox also approached and looked over Varius' other shoulder at the omnitool's picture.  
"What are they doing there? Floriculture?"  
He asked and wiped the remains of some indefinable innards of rylkor off his chest.  
"That looks more like ... mushrooms. Huge mushrooms." Judged Samuel.  
"The angara are growing them on Voeld.“ Said Varius.

Over a period of twenty minutes, during which the three-man team had sent a distress call to surrounding Alliance units, the drone picked up about 30 people, some armed, some dressed like scientists, moving and four cages. In two of them were wild animals, in one, however, humanoids. They were women of different species: human, asari and angara. They seemed apathetic and many just sat and stared. 

"What are they doing with the animals and the women?" Varius asked himself.  
Samuel instructed him to maneuver the drone once more to one of the cages with the wild animals. "What in the name of the three gods..." he murmured. 

The animals had been changed. Mushrooms and lichens grew everywhere on their bodies and they seemed especially aggressive. Separated in a cage was a single animal, a rylkor, which was eating mushrooms from a bowl. Three scientists stood in front of the cage and took notes. 

"We have to get the women out of there, surely these maniacs will do some kind of tests on them." Samuel said and looked at the rock formation they were now about a kilometer away from. Samuel's omnitool reported a response from a nearby unit. 

"We're getting reinforcements from the Heskaarl. And with luck, Alliance units are coming in from Ex Satus Paara." He informed Trox and Varius.  
"The Heskaarl. Isn't that the angara special forces?" Trox remembered. "They're supposed to be good."

Ten minutes later, a shuttle arrived not far from the APEX team's ground vehicle and six heavily armed angara jumped out. 

"Six Heskaarl and three of us. Nine against 30. I almost feel sorry for our opponents. Too bad that Thantos is not among them. He's missing something." Said Trox.

Samuel approached the leader and they greeted each other in the manner of the angaran fighters, crossing the opposite‘s forearm. Information was quickly exchanged and instructions given. Varius took position on a hill and lay down flat. The bandits seemed very sure that nobody could be dangerous to them, even if one of their comrades had been shot. An acceptable loss, apparently. Four fighters had taken position at the entrance and patrolled there. Samuel watched his sniper take aim at the first enemy. A barely audible shot from the silenced barrel and the guard collapsed. Before the second knew what was happening to him, he was down. Varius needed exactly one shot each. He hit one after the other with almost playful ease before he jumped up and followed Samuel, Trox and the Heskaarl who had sneaked ahead.

"You've just reminded me again why I want you on my team." Said Samuel as Varius caught up with them.  
"I have other good qualities, as you know." Varius replied, and one could hear the grin under his helmet.

Samuel did not go for it. Concentration was needed now anyway. The Heskaarl obviously had their own plan to approach. Samuel had not even tried to discuss with the leader during the brief situation meeting. However, that was not even necessary. The special unit proceeded tactically very cleverly, very effectively and above all very mercilessly. The APEX squad had the opportunity and honor to see the Heskaarl in action. They were a perfectly coordinated team and took the first ten opponents out of the race before they even knew what was going on. When the alarm was finally sounded, the vanguard was out of the way. 

But then suddenly a mech, one of the huge powerful fighting robots, appeared, which were manned and then became extremely unpleasant opponents in the fight. Especially when they started to fire from their rocket launches. It soon turned out, however, that the guy who operated the mech had about as much knowledge like a space hamster had about knitting. Still, he landed a devastating lucky strike, but wounded a Heskaarl and Trox only slightly. After this, the mech leader had created a huge problem for himself: Trox.

Samuel, who was just being attacked by two opponents, saw an angry roaring krogan running past him, resembling a rabid eiroch. He literally rammed the mech to the ground and struck him with brute force. The mech twitched at that moment and Trox hit the huge barrel of the rocket launcher with full force. It jammed and overheated within seconds. The result was a violent explosion that tore the mech into its individual parts and threw Trox away. 

"Trox!" Samuel shouted through the helmet microphone. 

He fatally overlooked another opponent, who was about to fire a heavy assault rifle at him from the distance. But before he could fire the shot at the elf, he froze and collapsed a moment later. Samuel looked around and discovered Varius on a rocky outcrop.

"Somebody's gotta look after that pretty ass of yours, huh?" Said the Turian.  
"Hmph, Varius. Thanks." Puffed Samuel.  
"Hey, Talorian, quit flirting with the commander and start shooting the assholes at the guns!" Trox's voice came through the microphone.  
"Are you okay? Samuel wanted to know.  
He said, "Hell, yeah. That was one flight. I'll do it again, haha!“ The answer came.  
"Varius, you better take the mechs out if you can." Ordered Samuel.  
"Understood."

 _Seriously. Only a krogan can have this much fun in a fight._ Samuel thought. He hurried through the hall, past fighting angara and enemies, shooting down three of the enemies and searching for the hall with the cages. Two Heskaarl joined him. They shot their way free, then a mech blocked their way and immediately began to fire a volley at them. Chased they jumped for cover. 

"Varius?" Samuel called out  
"I'm on it.“ The turian's voice came back.

Then the mech appeared and attacked them directly. The blackness of the barrel turned red when the flamethrower was activated. Shortly before the devastating shot could grill them, however, the glow disappeared and the mech turned off. The guy inside the fighting robot started cursing and tried to leave the cabin. But he was trapped.

„What was that again? _Assuming control_.“ Varius said amused. The rigger had taken control of the mech.  
"Phew, that was close. Thanks, Varius." Samuel gasped.  
„Anytime, Commander. Let‘s see what I can do with that toy.“

Samuel saw the mech turning around, marching off and starting to rampage among his own people, while the guy inside the cabin was hammering and screaming helplessly inside. Most of the enemies were distracted. Samuel and the two angaran fighters hurried on and reached the hall where the strange mushroom gardens and cages were located. Three people in lab coats turned to Samuel and the angara as they hurried towards them. They immediately raised their hands. 

"Please, we are only scientists, we are unarmed!" One of the three men shouted. 

This was a downright lie. His colleague behind him pulled out a pistol at that very moment and shot one of the angara. He cried out and caved in. A graze shot had hit him in the leg. Samuel immediately opened fire on the scientist who had attacked. One shot and he went down livelessly.

"Release the women immediately or you will follow your colleague!" He hissed. 

He looked into the eyes of the scientist. They glowed strangely green. What was that? The glow irritated him so much that he ignored the third of the scientists. That was a mistake. A shot echoed across the room, a hot pain ate into Samuel's neck. The bullet barely missed his aorta. Samuel fired. The uninjured Heskaarl fired. The two remaining scientists immediately went down dead. While the injured angara was supported by his comrade, Samuel tried to give his wound a makeshift treatment. The bullet wound hurt and he saw blood running over his blue and white armor. 

"Shit!" he growled. But the medigel was a great help.

However. He knew at that moment that Thantos, who was with Samara, pulled his face in pain and grabbed his neck for a short moment. He felt the pain that his _paratan_ also felt et vice versa. When Thantos was hurt Samuel felt it at the same time. He would apologize to him later. He always did. Later? Ha, first they had to get out of here in one piece.

Their chances of success increased rapidly when a combat troop from the Ex Satus Paara Station intervened. With their help, the Heskaarl, krogan brute force, Varius' sniper and rigger skills and the deadly melee-dance of Samuel, they were able to defeat the opponents. Seven managed to flee, however. The women could be freed. The mushroom infested beasts were killed and the Heskaarl lost no time in setting fire to the mushroom gardens together with the mech taken over from Varius, after Varius' drone had scanned the plants and one of the human women, who was still responsive, told that these mushrooms caused hallucinations and personality changes, but also - and this was probably the most important thing besides the potential for dependence - euphoric states. 

"They gave us the mushrooms and after that I don't know anything anymore." Said the woman.  
"Why did they give the mushrooms to the animals?" Samuel wanted to know.  
"Probably also for testing purposes. They wanted to see if the mushrooms made the animals more aggressive or more sociable. And they used their bodies as mobile gardens." Said the woman.  
"Disgusting." Growled Trox.  
"Sounds like they were planning to manufacture dangerous drugs on a large scale here." Varius pondered.

The cave was searched and several pads were found with research data and plans for drug distribution and trafficking. Several boxes of dried mushrooms, pills or powdered mushrooms were also discovered. One box was confiscated - Samuel disliked it, but the station's commander said that the researchers at the Ex Sauts Paara Station might be able to do further research with it - the rest was destroyed,

After weapons, ammunition, food rations and medical supplies were secured and taken away, the cave was set on fire and all dangerous things in it were destroyed.

"You're just never gonna be able to take care of yourself, are you?" Samara bitched the evening after the mission.  
"Samara, in case you haven't noticed: I'm commander of an APEX unit. Our job is to go on dangerous missions!“ Samuel answered annoyed.  
"Thantos almost collapsed next to me." That was a hyperbole as Samuel already knew.  
"I've already apologized to him." Even though that wasn't necessary. Thantos knew the risks as well as he did.  
"That was dangerous!" Samara continued to beef unperturbed.

Samuel rolled his eyes. Before he said something that made them even angrier, he left the emissaries' quarters. Gods, sometimes he did hate his sister a little. At least when she thought she had to play pseudo-mommy. 

"I'm not done with you yet!" When he heard it behind him, she snarled after him.  
"Excuse me, Emissary, I have work to do." He gave it back and went on.

Something she called out after him, but he didn't understand it anymore. He sighed deeply. Sometimes she really got on his nerves. He made his way to the observation deck, where no one was usually on at this time. He knew that, so he liked to retire there to meditate. He liked to sit under the wide window, which offered a view into eternity from night, shining stars and velvety nebulae in all colors. The Phoenix had left Kadara and was now floating through the orbit. Samuel sat cross-legged, had folded his hands into a bowl in his lap and closed his eyes. He noticed the door open and closed again after a short time. Someone had entered the room, and from the fact that he had heard no sound other than that of the door, he could assume that it was Thantos. He sat down next to him like a breath of mist. Silence. Silence. Banishing all emotions. The day came to an end.


	7. Interlude: Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares & knitting hanar.

_Two cat's eyes, blue like sapphires, held him in their spell. He could not take his eyes off them. But in the blue eyes shimmered disappointment. Pain and anger in the angara's face. "You are a murderer. You let them die. Innocents!" Saraan's pleasant, soothing voice sounded accusing, and angry. "Murderer!" He cried again. Suddenly flames around him blew out of the ground, suddenly Saraan was far away. "Murderer!" His voice became an echoing staccato. The flames flickered up on him, black smoke spread. And swallowed Saraan first, then Samuel himself._

Samuel was awakened from his sleep. He immediately sat panting in his bed and stared into space. For a few minutes he just sat there and thought about the dream he just had. It had been different. This time Saraan had appeared. But that made the nightmare much worse. Samuel sighed and drove his hands through his face. He lay down and closed his eyes, trying to fall back to sleep. After an hour of pointless staring at the ceiling, he left his bed. He groped into the tiny bathroom, which consisted of a toilet and washbasin but was part of his quarters, and washed his face. Then he left the room on bare feet and went to the observation deck.

With a soft hiss the door to the deck opened and closed again behind him. There was no one here. Good. He moved through the room and sat cross-legged under the slanted window, as he used to do when meditating. Silently he looked up. And sank into his thoughts. Through the window he could see the stars. Thousands and thousands of stars. So many. Would it ever be possible to visit them all? Would anyone ever be able to say we have explored every bright light in the universe and can name it? Humans, asari, turian, salarian, volus, angara and more. They had achieved great things technologically, culturally, scientifically and yet they were all so small and insignificant in the face of the glittering eternity of the universe. And yet everything was interwoven. "When we try to pick anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe "1. What was it like when you met someone who made you feel like the missing part you didn't know was missing? To be the one you missed even though you never noticed that you missed it? Interwoven. Always have been. Predestined. Was it predestined? Was he connected to Thantos because it had to be? Of all things a drell who became his master, where the drell were subject to the hanar because of their background story. Samuel looked up at the stars until his neck hurt. So he lay on his back and placed his arms under his head, while his legs were crossed at the ankles. He took a deep breath and kept looking up. The universe was so beautiful. 

He couldn't say how long he'd been lying there like that. It might have been ten or twenty minutes when the door to the observation deck opened unexpectedly. Samuel had managed to close his eyes and doze a little. The soft hissing sound drew his attention again. He turned his head and body a little to see who had come in. Tiran Suvay floated up. In one of the six tentacles he held - did he really have a basket of wool and knitting needles with him? Indeed. Samuel remembered that Tiran was very good and very fond of knitting. Yes, they had a knitting hanar on board. Samuel watched the pink jellylike figure, who had apparently not discovered him, with interest. A jerk and a flash of bioluminescence finally went through the strange structured shape that represented the body of the Hanar. The tip, which formed something like the face or nose of the being, was now directly facing Samuel. 

"Oh, this one did not notice the revered Commander. This one will find another place not to disturb." He said. Each word was preceded by a gentle hall. 

"No, that's all right, you're welcome to stay. You're not disturbing me at all, honorable Mr. Suvay." Samuel replied. 

Hanar were extremely polite beings. They remained very polite even when they were very angry or even wished someone else dead. Samuel was always tempted to maintain the degree of politeness towards Tiran Suvay that a hanar considered standard. And he was held in high esteem for that. Nevertheless, Samuel had once obtained an assurance from him that it would hopefully not appear mocking when he spoke to him in this way. Suvay, on the other hand, had been very pleased with the honest concern that he might upset the hanar if he tried to be as polite as one. They did not have much to do with each other, but they got along well. Teekoy Var was a different matter. Tiran had eaten the volus and not just since the thing with the manipulated gravity pack. To Tiran, Teekoy was just an extremely rude, gruff guy. Surprisingly, he got along even better with Trox than with Teekoy, to whom he had already mentioned that he would like to strangle him in his sleep - hanar could do that; they probably possessed a brute force in their tentacles, besides their body's own toxins. Since then, Teekoy no longer slept in the crew quarters, but in a hammock in the hold. 

The hanar floated into a corner of the room. Under no circumstances did he want to bother the captain with his presence and so he kind of cleaned himself up. 

"No need to cram yourself into a corner, Mr. Suvay. Like I said, I don't mind."

The pink mass emitted a renewed glow and movement, which could be interpreted as a nod or bow, then the hanar floated closer again. 

"I hope I'm not disturbing you either." Said Samuel.  
"Not at all, honourable Commander. You were here before this one." Tiran's replied echoing. Each time he spoke, the body glowed softly. 

The hanar took three different balls of wool, green, yellow and blue – Trox‘ skin had these colors - and two knitting needles from the basket and began his work. Samuel watched him with fascination. Not only because he himself did not understand handwork at all, but also because Tiran did it with playful ease even though he had no fingers. Samuel returned to politeness. Besides Thantos, he probably had the least difficulty in being over-polite, since in Japan on earth a similar courtesy and respect was shown. 

"Excuse me, may I watch you work a little?" He asked.  
The hanar nodded. "Of course, Commander."

Samuel sat up, rolled over on his stomach and then put his chin on his forearms. He just stayed where he was and watched Tiran. After a while, he asked:

"Who are you knitting this for, if the question is allowed?"  
Again the hanar nodded and explained: "Nakmor Trox Ghurak is celebrating his birthday soon. This one hopes he will like the present. It will be a pillow, which this one will fill with ghobiseeds. Nakmor Trox Ghurak often complained of pain in his right knee."  
Samuel had to smile. "That is very thoughtful of you. I'm sure he will be pleased."

Tiran hinted again at something like a nod. Ghobiberries were originally grown on Kahje, the home world of the hanar and the Drell refuge world. They were the approximate equivalent of cherries and their seeds had a similar painkilling effect. He knew these fruits well. They did taste like cherries. On Ex Satus Paara they had started to grow ghobiberries among other things. Samuel continued to lie there and watch the hanar knitting. The room was completely silent, there was only the quiet clatter of the metal knitting needles, the barely perceptible whirring of the gravitational pack that stabilized the hanar and Samuel's breath that he himself only perceived. Now and then the ship made its noises. A crack here, a distant beeping there. Everything was quiet. 

"May this one know why the Commander is awake and not resting in his quarters?" Tiran asked after a while.  
"Nightmares. I had nightmares again." Samuel answered truthfully.  
"In your world, dreams have had great significance for thousands of years. This one remembers the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. They were seen in visions. harbingers." Tiran mused.  
"I'm sure I'm more likely to be in aftermath. Something haunts me from the past." Samuel said. 

But the thought of his most recent dream sent a shiver down his spine. Was it a premonition of Saraan calling him a murderer and sinking into the flames? Oh Gods, that would be terrible. Samuel's gaze became blank as he tried to explore the feeling that had just overtaken him in connection with his thoughts. He lived for others and he died for them. For Saraan too? He closed his eyes and swallowed. _Kalahira, what fate have you prepared for me?_

You could never tell where a Hanar was looking because this species did not have visible eyes or a mouth. Tiran, however, had stopped knitting, and when Samuel opened his eyes and looked at the Hanar with his nose fixedly pointed in his direction, he could assume that Tiran was looking at him closely. 

"This nightmare is tormenting you greatly, honourable Commander." He concluded.  
"I consider it my punishment." Samuel replied quietly. 

He changed position and turned back on his back, put his hands under his head and looked up at the starry sky.

"Your punishment?" Tiran sounded surprised.  
"Yes."  
"May this one know what the Commander has done to cause recurring nightmares?"  
Samuel sighed softly and Tiran apologized.  
"This one didn't mean to get personal. Forgive this person, honorable Commander."  
The elf shook his head.  
"No, it's all right, you don't need to apologize. I'm not angry with you."

There followed another phrase of courtesy from Tiran, which Samuel again politely replied. For some, talking to a hanar could be very tiring. But Samuel had the patience of a saint. And besides, tiredness was also what he hoped for.

"I have done things in the past that justify this punishment. I will try to make up for what I have done. But that will probably never happen. So I'm doing what I can to at least get as close as I can to that reparation." He said.  
"When will you know when you've gotten close enough?" Tiran wanted to know.

Samuel kept silent for a few moments. He was thinking. And finally said:  
"...when the nightmares hardly ever come back to me." 

Probably that's all he could hope for. Never again did he want to return to the one he had been. He had been a bad, bad man. Through Thantos, he had begun to seek forgiveness. He never wanted to be what he was on earth again. 

"Couldn't sleep either, Mr. Suvay?" Samuel wanted to know.  
"Yes, this one did. Though sometimes this one sleeps at other times. This one likes to pick the rest periods for the other crew members to do his handiwork."

Samuel nodded understandingly. Yes, he could see the point. The Phoenix was often noisy and hectic. Simply because his crew consisted of a lot of nutcases and weirdos - no, honestly, the Phoenix crew was famous (or infamous) for their part-time craziness but also for their brilliance - who, if they didn't work professionally, which of course they could and did, if necessary, filled their days bickering, playing games, drinking or making eyes at each other. The latter applied to very few, but that too was given. Varius, who had clearly gone too far on Kadara, was one such example. Samuel hoped that his rigger would hold back from now on, but strongly doubted it.

Silence spread throughout the room. Again only the soft clicking of the knitting needles could be heard. The stars were twinkling above Samuel. Everything was so peaceful. Samuel didn't feel the slow dawning of the world of sleep. At some point, not knowing when, he managed to grope his way dazed to one of the recliners and lie down in it. That was as far as he could go. In his slumber he latently noticed someone approaching him and laying a blanket over his body. He finally woke up under this blanket when someone marched onto the observation deck and cursed loudly. From the voice he could quickly tell that it was Trox. Overslept, he looked over at the krogan.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, boy, what are you doing on the observation deck?"  
"I was asleep.“ Samuel answered and stretched.  
"You know you got your own quarters for that, don't you?“ Trox replied and Samuel nodded before clearing the blanket and rising.  
"Why do you swear like that? Teekoy playing a trick on you again?" He asked.  
The krogan snorted. "No. I just received a report that my order of supplies from the Nexus has been lost. That's annoying. It came with good krogan brandy and excellent cooking ingredients and such things."  
"That is unfortunate. Would you like us to investigate? Perhaps the cargo was stolen." Suggested Samuel.  
"That's nice. Thanks, boy. No hurry, though. If it ever comes up and we're in the Zaubray system, Deen can scan the area." Trox answered.  
"I'll be sure to tell him." Samuel replied. 

He left the observation deck and crept through the ship towards his quarters. where he grabbed some shower utensils and fresh clothes and disappeared into the shower. It would be nice if all worries and thoughts could simply be washed away. Unfortunately it was not like that. He spent half an hour under the water thinking. But he did not come to any result. Saraan was probably fed up with him and with humans. Why was it so important to him what the other one thought of him? "Darn it!" He hissed softly. Just at that moment Varius of all people entered the shower and reminded Samuel what he had forgotten to do: lock the doors. 

Samuel leaned with his hands against the wall and let the warm water jet of the shower head run over him. Drops ran down his jaw and fell from his chin. So he looked at Varius with a dull look, who had to swallow hard. _Wow, fuck._ He blinked at him, then he remembered what he actually wanted to do here.

"Oh, uhm, I'm gonna go... and come back later." Said the turian, who, of course, had difficulty averting his gaze.  
Samuel shook his head. "That's okay. I'm done anyway." 

He replied, taking his hands off the wall before turning off the water. The shower was very spacious, but there were no individual cabins. But you could lock all the doors. If you remembered to do so. He wrung out his white hair and let it fall over his back before he started to dry himself. Meanwhile Varius took off his trousers and hung them, together with other clothes and a towel, over a holder. 

"About yesterday. I... I am sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you like that." Varius finally said into the silence, which was probably equally unpleasant for both of them.

Samuel raised an eyebrow when he heard Varius' words, but did not look at him as he wrapped the towel around his hips. Varius looked at him.

"Doesn't seem to have helped much, huh? Had nightmares again?"

Samuel sighed softly. His lovely rigger tried to make conversation. And he wasn't fucked up enough to just ignore him. In the old days, that would have been different. So he nodded.

"Yeah. Worse than that." He muttered. "But everyone has to carry his parcel." He hesitated before speaking any further, going to his clothes in the dry area of the shower room. "I... could at least... fall asleep easily after your... procedure. I don't usually have that luxury after a nightmare."

Varius grinned crookedly. Samuel did not want to know what the Turian was thinking or what conclusions he was drawing. That's why he was quick to slip in between: "this doesn't mean that this is becoming a habit or gonna happen again, understand?"  
"Of course not, Commander." The rigger smiled. 

Varius didn't let it show, but he was damn glad that his boss didn't hold a grudge against him anymore. Or just a minimal one. This of course made his head spin. 

"So no more bad blood, no? He asked.  
Samuel smiled rather half-heartedly: "For now. I don't usually hold grudges."  
"Wonderful! Would you like to soap my tank, then? It's so hard for me to do it alone." Said Varius.  
"Talorian!" Samuel snorted and the turian smiled wide.  
"What? Just kidding. I'll leave you in peace." _For now_ , he added, mentally.


	8. Chapter 6: Expensive Whisky

Nakmor Trox Ghurak had birthday soon. Of course nobody on board officially knew about it. Unofficially, however, the situation looked a bit different. For days before, people had been whispering among themselves and there had been a secrecy, as if the Phoenix was not a registered alliance ship of an ambassador, but a smuggling freighter from Kadara, which planned a coup to transport highly explosive goods from A to B. If Samuel didn't know where he was, he really assumed he was on a secret illegal mission. The women on board, especially his sister, had been planning for days and he himself had found out so much that they wanted to throw a big party for Trox. But since he didn't want anyone to even mention his birthday, it was difficult to plan. Samuel had received the honourable task from his crew members to collect the presents. Or at least a significant part. If he was already on Kadara or other planets, he could work through the list that had been given to him. Samara had walked all over the ship together with Teekoy Var and had had everyone write down what kind of gift or which part of a gift they needed to complete it. When the list was written, Samuel received it by message on his private terminal. It looked like this:

• Deen & Cheen Watts: Firebreathing Thresher Maws II  
• Patricia Potter: cookbook: Angaran cuisine for beginners  
• Teekoy Var: individual parts for complete construction of a thermo cup  
• Varius Talorian: pistol grip for krogan hands to complete a firearm  
• Caliria Adrascus: see Varius (the two obviously worked together on a firearm for Trox)  
• Thantos Savallian: book of ancient techniques for meditation and pain relief  
• Jake Goodwin: various action movies with krogan superheroes  
• Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa & her assistant Jennifer Sola: Voucher for a krogan massage on Meridian

Tiran Suvay had knitted a pillow for Trox. He was still missing the ghobiseeds. These were also on the list, of course. Samuel added Ryncol, his krogan brandy and looked at the list. Seriously. He'd been demoted to the position of a buying agent. Well, now he just had to find out exactly where to get what. It wasn't difficult, though. Jake helped him. At Samuel's request, he gave him a list of all the stores and locations he could think of. Mostly Kadara and the Nexus. Shouldn't be too hard. He only had to go to Elaaden for the brandy. However, none of his crew members could break away to accompany him. Everyone was incredibly busy. And obviously one thought that the captain and commander of an APEX unit had too much time. He didn't put up with that. He forced Samara and Thantos to at least get the voucher, the meditation book and the cookbook at their next diplomatic meeting on the Nexus. And he took Caliria and Varius with him to Kadara, so they could get their own parts. And, by the way, the parts for Teekoy's cup. 

It was actually no problem to get the stuff. Even the berries had been found. Ex Satus Paara had some in stock and thanks to Teekoy's persuasion, whom Samuel had summarily called into a conference because he himself was anything but good at negotiating, he had convinced the scientist to give him some seeds. Action movies were available on the Nexus as well as here on Kadara, but Samuel didn't trust Thantos or Samara to find something appealing for a Krogan and so he had a look at Kadara himself. And found what he was looking for. So in the end there was the brandy and this ominous game that the Salarian twins wanted to have for Trox. Unfortunately neither one nor the other had been available. So all that remained was to go to Elaaden to get the brandy and let Jake search for the game. Samuel walked on the ramp that separated the spaceport and Kadara Port by heavy metal doors and followed his squad mates through a long line of cargo containers that were all around here, left and right, back to the Phoenix. Lost in thought, he went through the gift list and didn't notice how someone came up to him, who had just been engaged in a conversation and turned his back on the adept just at the moment, because he was telling his interlocutor something with open arms. So it happened as it had to happen and the two bumped into each other. There was a clink, something shattered on the floor. Samuel stumbled backwards and looked around in a flabbergasted state. A human stood before him. No, stop. An elf! He had pointed ears, sunburnt skin and pitch-black dreadlocks. But his features were Caucasian. He was about the same height as Samuel and looked no less bewildered. 

"Hey, what..." When he saw Samuel, something in him seemed to stop. He stared at the white-haired elf and examined him briefly. Samuel returned the look irritated and did not know what to do. Finally a "sorry?" came over his lips. It suddenly began to smell of alcohol. Sensing a twinkle in the corner of his eye, Samuel lowered his gaze. The strange elf followed his gaze and gave an almost theatrical, desperate groan.

"Oh, great, the expensive liquor!" 

There were dozens of shards of glass on the floor. Two bottle necks with a silver label on them suggested that it must have been two bottles. The stranger must have been carrying them a moment ago. Samuel looked at the other elf again.

"Um, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." He apologized. 

Varius and Caliria had walked a few meters further and were now standing there, loaded with the purchases, watching the scenario. The black-haired elf had crouched down and picked up the two labels. From this position he looked up at Samuel. A strange smile flitted across his lips as he slowly rose again. He looked back and waited to see what would happen next. He didn‘t trust him at all. But that was not surprising when you met strangers in Kadara Port who smiled at you so strangely. 

"Well, nevertheless, a very delicate and, by the way, extremely expensive drop of the best 1970 Macallan Scotch single malt whisky was destroyed and its contents sacrificed to the ramp here." The elf replied with an accent that Samuel couldn't quite place. 

A whisky from 1950? Samuel had to swallow. He didn't even want to know how much it cost. The black-haired man looked at him with a wait-and-see look. His two companions had taken position behind him, one of them watching the turians of the Phoenix as they slowly returned.

"I hope these were not the last two bottles that ever existed. Perhaps I can replace them for you." Suggested to Samuel.  
"If you have 560,000 credits left per bottle, sure." The other elf replied calmly.

Samuel made big eyes, Caliria and Varius looked at each other. They stood beside their commander. By the gods, that made 1,120,000 credits! He would never be able to spare them. Even, no, especially from the Nexus command. Caliria and Varius looked at their commander and saw that he was about to get into something he would not get out of so quickly. He would be so honest and confess that he didn't have the necessary amount of credits to compensate for the damage. And the way the guy looked with his two companions, a Turian and a Quarian, he was just waiting to get Samuel into trouble. Caliria interfered with that.

"We can't afford the amount, but we know where to get whiskey. We have our own sources from where we get our goods."

The black-haired elf looked from Samuel to the turian woman and looked at her disparagingly. 

"You mean you can manage to replace one of the most expensive spirits in the galaxy for me?"

He smiled arrogantly before he looked at Samuel again and folded his arms across his chest. "What if I want my own kind to do me some favours?"  
Caliria narrowed her eyes, but could not answer as Samuel spoke up.  
"What kind of favors?"

He didn't want his squad mates involved in anything. In the end, they were probably all in it anyway. 

"Just a few small missions. Mostly it's moving merchandise."  
"Smuggling, that is." Varius concluded sullenly.  
"In case you hadn't noticed, we are members of the Alliance and operate within the legal boundaries of business." Samuel said.. That made the other one smile.  
"And you think every Alliance member has a shining, clean slate? Cute."  
Samuel tilted his head slightly: "I will not entertain this illusion."

On the ramp between the containers it became silent. For a few moments there were only the six of them. And no witnesses. The last one who could have seen them, a salarian, passed them without looking up from his datapad and disappeared towards the main entrance of Kadara Port. Samuel remembered. He knew that Varius and Caliria had no problem luring the three guys between the containers of the spaceport and finish them. He would not even have to order them to do it. A simple inconspicuous nod would suffice and he would be responsible for three corpses that would not attract attention here on Kadara because there were deaths every day. But he could also try to solve the whole thing without bloodshed, which meant more negotiation and more work. He felt Varius' look in his neck. He was just waiting for his boss to give him the hint. 

The moment passed without a shot being fired. Samuel had decided against it.

"So be it. It doesn't solve my problem." Murmured the elf, who seemed to have been unaware of the situation.  
"Listen. We'll get you your alcohol." Said Samuel.  
"So? I'm curious. I wonder, though, how I can trust you to come back and bring me the bottles? I need some kind of collateral, a deposit. Oh, and, no, the dealer from whom I bought the spirits had only these two in stock."  
"They're hardly the only two bottles in the galaxy, are they?" Said Caliria and stepped next to Samuel.  
The black-haired elf looked at her.  
"Actually, you're right. But getting more will be difficult. Not to mention dangerous. However," he said and then smiled at the turian woman, "of course, if you are so willing to volunteer. Yes, there is at least one more container with this treasure. On Elaaden. If you secure it for me, I'll forget that you have taken 1,120,000 credits from me."

He examined Samuel again. "I was going to fly to Elaaden anyway. _You_ could come with me." He suddenly suggested. "Then I would have my assurance that you wouldn't slip away and leave me stranded."  
Samuel was silent at first. Varius was about to interfere when he was interrupted by his commander.  
„Agreed.“

Varius and Caliria looked at each other incredulously. Didn't he just say?!  
The black-haired elf raised one eyebrow, but smiled.

"Fine. That means you'll fly to Elaaden in my ship and get me my goods, yes? I mean, one of you should accompany me personally. You know. Collateral."  
"All right, I'll go with you." Samuel answered, not paying attention to his two comrades.  
"Well, excellent. I don't mind if you take a gun and put on light armour. I wouldn't want you to feel naked. You can call me Emilio Black, by the way." Said the stranger.  
"Sekhmet." Samuel used his code name from his shadowrun past.

The battle equipment had been left at the entrance to Kadara Port, as it had been ten years ago. At least every visible one. Leaving Kadara Port, you could pick up your gear again. On the way back to the spaceport where the ships were standing, Varius grabbed his commander by the upper arm and pulled him a little bit towards him before he let him go again.

"Are you crazy? What if this guy kills you?" he hissed softly.  
"He won't. The Phoenix will follow his ship, and Jake will monitor every fiber of his technology. You're gonna help him, and you're gonna shut this ship down the minute he tries to make a move." Samuel replied quietly, not looking at his rigger. 

Varius looked grumpy. He still didn't like the idea, though he would of course work with Jake to make sure these guys couldn't even operate their damn coffee machines without them knowing about it. The Phoenix was three docks away from the corvette smuggling ship. Low profile but armed. Samuel suspected that the ship did not hold twelve men, because a good part of it had to be used as cargo space if you wanted to transport loot. He estimated the crew to be a maximum of six people. Emilio Black waited halfway for the adept, who said goodbye to his two crew members after a short instruction. One of the most important things he told them was: don't tell the emissary. Samuel really didn't want to have his sister in his ears again. Since the event on Aya she was exaggeratedly worried about him. And that was more of a hindrance than a help. He really need to talk about that with her.

"Your crew need not worry about you. As long as everything goes as planned, there is absolutely no reason to worry." Insured Emilio and gave Samuel a tiny smile which he did not return.

Samuel followed the other inside the ship, whose hatch closed after him. The space behind was large. Without any problems, four big containers could be accommodated here. In the middle of the ceiling there was a load crane. Samuel looked around quickly and instinctively looked for hiding places and ways to escape. There was a second floor, on which two armed figures stood and looked down. No sooner had the closing process been completed than the turian and the quarian stepped out of the shadows behind him. They both pointed guns at him and slowly approached him. Upstairs, they were now aiming at him as well.

"Put your hands in the air." Said the quarian through her helmet microphone. _Of course that needed to happen _, it went through Samuel's head, but he obeyed and raised his hands.__


	9. Chapter 7: Trouble Decker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake Goodwin and Varius Talorian are taking over the pirate ship.
> 
> Goodwin‘s Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSaYT9H560Y

Emilio turned to him. "I hope you will understand that I am a very paranoid man who does not like to have armed guests on board. So you will spend the trip unarmed. But as I said, as long as everything goes as planned, there is no need to worry." 

He said while the quarian Samuel took all the weapons she could find. He stood still and let the disarmament take its course. The quarian put the weapons in a locker and punched a code into the pad. 

"I probably would have done the same thing you did on my ship." Samuel replied calmly.  
"You see..." Emilio agreed with him and nodded. "Nevertheless, I will do my best to make you feel comfortable." 

He promised, waving to Samuel. He followed him, accompanied by the turian and the quarian who were following and most likely had their weapons at hand. On the way, Samuel corrected his presumed crew strength to eight, when an asari, a krogan and another human approached him. At second glance, Samuel realized that the human was also an elf. His right ear, however, could hardly be described as pointed due to a previous injury. They all looked as if they had already fought a fight or two. And lost. But got away with their lives. 

"It's relatively rare that I encounter my meta-race, of all people." Samuel admitted when the three had passed him and disappeared into some rooms.

"Elves? Yes. Usually most of them live on the Nexus or Meridian. You're the first elf I've encountered outside the Nexus, next to my crewman." Emilio said. "It's too bad we don't seem to be on the same side, but that may change." He added.  
"I do not believe so." Samuel replied curtly. "May I lower my arms again? Or are you afraid I will strangle you from behind?"  
Emilio laughed softly. "No, I‘m not afraid. My two friends behind you would have perforated you faster than you could reach my neck."

 _"Commander, do you hear me?"_ Jake's voice came through the in-ear headphones, some sort of a spy device, which could not be seen from the outside as they were very tiny and placed within the ear. _"Use your omnitool, i sent you a code, confirm it. Then I can access the ship's matrix through your tool."_ The decker instructed him.  
"Will try." Samuel answered over the subvocal microphone. 

The good thing about this subvocal device was that you hardly had to move your lips at all. The microphone was so sensitive that it could perfectly recognize and process the voice and spoken words. However, when he‘d use his omnitool, the two behind him would notice that. So he had to wait for an opportunity. He knew that if he gave Jake access, it would make his job much easier. If that wasn't possible, the decker could work his way forward, but that would take much longer and involve more risk. Samuel, who had now lowered his arms, holding them right in front of his body, tried to activate the omnitool and the screen. Just a few simple steps. He saw the code and typed it with a gloved finger. Just in that moment he was roughly grabbed from behind and thrown against the wall. He gave a surprised groan and stared at the turian who held the barrel of his pistol directly at his neck. 

"Whatever you do, stop it or you‘re dead meat, understand?" He growled at him. 

Samuel did not move a millimeter. Emilio had stopped and come back. He looked at Samuel.  
"Tztz, you're not going to give us any trouble, are you?"  
"I was just...returning a call." Samuel lied and stayed calm.

Emilio looked at him. Then he grabbed Samuel's wrist around which the omnitool device was lying and slipped the device off, giving it to the quarian.

"Maybe I'll take until we get to Elaaden. Keni, help our guest out of the armor." Emilio told the quarian who was about to take the armor off Samuel.

"I don't need any help with that." Samuel said and wanted to put his hands on one of the straps that would loosen the chest armor. But the turian pressed the barrel more strongly against his neck, so that Samuel held still again. 

"Okay, okay. Take it easy." He murmured and let the quarian do the work. She had to hug him briefly to get to the back straps and buttons. Samuel in this very moment looked deep into her white eyes that were glowing through the visor of her purple mask. He could see how she looked back through the milky material of the visor. For a moment, she seemed to struggle, even paused her doing and stared at the attractive elf.

"Keni?" The turian probably tore her out of her thoughts and she continued to take the armor off Samuel. She had quickly taken off the upper body armor and the leg armor, so that Samuel now stood there more in tight-fitting pants and a shirt of thin fabric. Emilio examined him, lost in thought.

"Satisfied?" The adept snorted.  
"More than before." Emilio smiled and started moving again. 

The Turian stopped at Samuel's side and pointed the gun in front of him, while the quarian Keni disappeared with the armor and everything else. Samuel noticed how she gave him another furtive look before she disappeared. While following Emilio, Samuel heard the decker‘s voice again.

 _"Shit, Commander, that didn't work. Going in hot and look for an entrance. Try to get access to one of the computers somehow."_

A decker had multiple ways to get into the world of data, called the matrix in the days of Milky Way. He could stay conscious, perceive his surroundings, and still float in augmented reality. Or he could connect his brain to his mobile computer terminal, the deck – that‘s why hackers were called deckers. In this case, he had absolute control in the matrix and could go anywhere if he wanted to or if he succeeded. At the same time, however, this meant that he no longer had control over his body, nor over what was happening around or with him. In addition, there was the danger that he could be seriously injured in a fight with a hostile decker or program. And even die. 

Samuel did not believe that this smuggler was employing a decker and if he was, Jake was probably vastly superior. However, it was incredibly dangerous for a decker to leave his body in orbit and physically enter the matrix. For Jake it could even end deadly if the smuggling ship jumped into hyperspace and the Phoenix couldn't follow at the very same moment. It would literally tear him apart through the space-time continuum. However, Samuel assumed that Jake knew what he was doing. 

Emilio led his involuntary guest into a room that reminded Samuel of the observation deck on the Phoenix, but was much smaller and had a small bar. On the Phoenix there was the observation deck and the entertainment deck.

"You can make yourself comfortable here until we get to Elaaden." Emilio said. 

So this was the comfortable version of a prison cell. There was no computer here, and probably no other way to give a decker manual access. Crap. He had to come up with something. That's how he looked at Emilio.

"You want me to stay here? All by myself?" He said, tilting his head slightly. Emilio smiled coolly: "Temporarily, yes. Don't worry, I'll look after you."

With that he turned around and left the deck in front of the turian who had been waiting in the entrance. The turian gave Samuel another scathing look and left the room after his boss. The door was locked and the adept was stuck. Well, so he had to wait. Jake hadn't called back so far. 

Samuel sat down in one of the armchairs near the window overlooking Kadara Port. He heard and soon saw the ship moving. The landing dock passed by him, then Kadara Port was already far away and finally the grayish yellow cloud cover of the planet was broken through. Govorkam's sun temporarily blinded the view. It was very bright. The brightness changed to a blue that got darker and darker until it was black and the veil of stars received the ship. The planet Kadara lay beneath and shone like dull citrine. Samuel was looking for the Phoenix. It was nowhere to be seen. But that did not mean it was not there. Deen and Cheen Watts knew exactly what to do when their commander had given them order to follow quietly. It didn't necessarily require a cloaking system to bring one ship unseen to another for pursuit. It actually only needed two brilliant Salarians like the Watts twins who were stealth experts. Samuel simply sensed that the Phoenix was not far away. JJust in this moment Deen Watts' voice was heard in the device.

_"Commander, we're on your tail. Don't worry. Goodwin and Talorian are preparing to infiltrate the smuggling ship shortly."_

Samuel smiled weakly. His crew was simply the best. The soft hiss of the opening deck door took him out of his thoughts. He turned his head and saw the turian stomping in. His face still resembled a bad-tempered krogan in the early morning who hadn't been given any coffee. 

"Come along." He growled. 

And his mood was still the same. Samuel briefly toyed with the idea of making a stupid statement, but then thought it wiser not to provoke a bad-tempered, armed turian any further. He was unarmed and not equipped and certainly could not dodge as quickly as this guy would shoot him in the leg. Samuel assumed that he would shoot. So he rose from his armchair and approached the turian with a neutral face. 

"Hands up." The turian pushed the barrel of his pistol against Samuel's shoulder as he walked past him.  
Samuel decided not to say anything and put his hands up. 

It was one of the ugliest feelings to have someone behind your back who was neither well-disposed nor unarmed. He might take a chance and try to take the gun off. Then maraud through the ship and take out the crew and then wait for his crew to show up. He thought about it. Should he at least take out the guy behind him? He decided against it and let the moment pass. Samuel was led to the other end of the ship before a door opened that read "Captain's Quarters“. Definitely there‘d be a terminal. He just had to operate it somehow inconspicuously. After entering he took a brief look around. In addition to a nice view of the orbit, a bed, various closets, he discovered a large computer terminal. Perfect.

Inside Quartier, Emilio Black stood bent over a round table, which was placed in front of the window, screening a moving hologram. It represented a map and on closer inspection one could recognize place names. "Gehenna Valley", "Hell's Promise" and "New Tuchanka" left no doubt that this was the desert planet Elaaden. Well, at least apparently they were really on their way to Elaaden. Emilio looked up when Samuel stepped next to him. The turian disappeared and the door closed. Samuel took his hands down again. He assumed that he was now allowed to do so.

"Do you like my quarters better than the observation deck?" Emilio asked.  
"A lovely view." Samuel replied.  
"Here." Emilio pointed to the map and Samuel looked at the map.  
"It is in this area that I suspect the cargo. According to my informant, there is not only a case of the best Scotch whisky there, but other nice things as well."  
Samuel crossed his arms in front of his chest: "For example?"

He had just started to discard his idea of taking Emilio out because _„other nice things“_ had aroused his interest. Emilio looked at him and smiled: "so curious? You're not going to take my loot, are you?"

"Why would I do that?" Samuel asked.  
"Right. All you have to care about is how to get to the cargo. The rest is not important. If I'd paid you, I'd have said that's all you'd get paid for. Well, my informants told me that at the moment it is difficult to get the freight. Unfortunately, they always let everything be taken from their noses, so I only received this interim message and not the exact details, but ... you'll see then.“

Emilio moved away from the map and went to a cupboard. When he opened it, a built-in bar became visible. Without asking Samuel, he pulled out two glasses and a bottle, the contents of which could not be seen because it had a metal body. Samuel watched Emilio for a few seconds, then his gaze swept to the terminal. 

"I take the liberty of pouring you something, too." Emilio said.  
"With pleasure. From the looks of your bar, you often mix something.“ Samuel said quickly.  
"Well, yes, indeed. I do like to mix a cocktail or two." Emilio replied and turned briefly to Samuel, who was still standing with folded arms next to the map hologram.  
"Then surprise me with something complex." Samuel said, smiling up. 

He didn't know the first thing about cocktails. But with luck there were some that took at least a minute or two to prepare. That was all he needed. Emilio raised one eyebrow. 

"I could offer you Sex on Ilium." He smiled and Samuel agreed. "Sounds tempting."

Emilio turned around and picked up a shaker and several bottles whose contents Samuel did not know. He began to speak in a conversational tone: "I haven't actually mixed that for a long time. For most people it is too strong. But you will notice it yourself. Normally nobody complains to me when I mix cocktails."

"Is mixing cocktails your hobby?“ 

Samuel began to move silently and with fluent movements towards the terminal. He moved in such a way that if Emilio saw him, he gave the impression of admiring the inventory of the shelves. He didn't care what Emilio answered, as long as the guy was distracted. He heard the shaker and looked at him. Emilio was still standing with his back to him. He approached the terminal.

"I never knew there were so many different Asari drinks. But that shouldn't really surprise you. I'm sure you're familiar with the most common earthly mixtures." 

Samuel actually hated to talk so much, especially when it was complete nonsense. Deep conversations were much better. Or simply the silence he often enjoyed with Thantos. But for now it was just necessary. He had reached the terminal, standing sideways to Emilio, looking at some old star map of the Milky Way. With the hand Emilio wasn‘t supposed to see he activated the terminal's display. It lit up. Unfortunately using only one hand to call up the command bars was practically impossible. Samuel glanced at Emilio. He was still busy mixing. Okay, now or never. His heart was beating a little faster because he was getting a little nervous now. Again he asked Emilio some question to distract him.

"What goes into this Sex on Ilium drink?"

Patricia Potter would have loved to get new recipes as she was the ship‘s cook. Maybe he would remember some ingredients. While Emilio started to list the ingredients and didn't seem to notice what was happening in his back, Samuel entered the commands. Jake had once taught him the most important combinations. That had been worth its weight in gold. He made it! All that was left was a final confirmation for full activation. But then Emilio turned around. Samuel immediately leaned against the terminal so the black-haired elf couldn't see what he had done. He was tense. If Emilio now would notice that he had tampered with his terminal, Samuel probably would be in trouble. He had to distract him further. 

Emilio approached with the drinks Samuel couldn‘t allow him come any closer. So he stepped towards him to shorten the distance and took the drink he was serving out of his hand. Without releasing him from his mesmerizing gaze, he looked Emilio and took a sip. Emilio gave him a flirty smile an drank. That stuff was strong. But it was good. The best thing was for him to just sip it or pretend to drink. Emilio grinned when he saw Samuel getting to know the strong mixture. 

"Wow, okay. I'm surprised the Asari brew something like this." Samuel said.  
"Yes, you don't expect that... It's probably because asari have a thousand years to learn about mixing."

Samuel nodded. The terminal was still waiting to receive the final command. As if Jake knew that, he heard his voice in his ear: _"Commander, try to gain access, then we can play with these guys a little.“_

More distraction then. Though Samuel hated no less than any superficiality he knew that he was attractive and knew how to make use of it, although he usually never did. He pretended to take another sip from his cup. He would gladly get drunk in order to better carry out his plan, but it was more reasonable to stay sober. He stepped a little closer to the other one and tilted his head slightly crooked. 

"I wonder what else you can do." He whispered and smiled tantalizingly. 

He held Emilio captive with his gaze. The other man gently raised one eyebrow and seemed to take an instant bite. His pupils grew larger and he laughed softly, ran his hand through his black hair and lowered his gaze for a moment. Was he unsettled? Samuel's gaze flinched briefly toward the console. He still had to wait. To get to it, he had to get even closer to Emilio.

"Well, normally I prefer a beautiful woman‘s flirting." He also took a sip. Samuel pretended to drink, too. Sober, this was harder, but it was still possible. "But...I might make an exception for someone like you, though." He replied. His eyes once blatantly wandered up and down on Samuel.

Samuel allowed Emilio to pull him. By the three gods, he had to give Jake access. The problem was not that he didn't like other men. He did – and especially Varius knew this and obviously wanted to benefit from it, but: different topic. He wasn't really sure which sex he preferred; for simplicity's sake, if someone asked him and he actually gave an answer, he would call himself bisexual. But here he was very sure: with Emilio, even if he was attractive, he certainly didn't want to end up in bed.

"An exception yes? Sounds very tempting." Samuel purred.

He looked deep into Emilios eyes. Then he placed his drink on a shelf, so he had both hands free for what he had planned. He grabbed the black-haired elf by the shoulders and tried to turn him around so Emilio stood with his back to the terminal and couldn‘t see what was behind him. He actually let that happen. To keep him occupied, Samuel took the lead and put one hand on the chin of the other, who gasped softly. 

"I'm sure we still have some time left. Why not fill it with some fun?" he whispered to Emilio.  
"Oh, yes, I agree, handsome."

Emilio smiled and put his hands on Samuel's buttocks. Samuel struggled, but he continued to play along. _Shit, perhaps more alcohol might have been better._ But now it was just the way it was. Normally he would have sent Emilio to the floor by now at the latest. Instead, he nestled closer to the other one and bent down to one of the pointed ears to bite gently. Emilio sighed softly and closed his eyes, while his hands reached more strongly into Samuel's gluteal muscles. Samuel peered past Emilio's head to the console. His right hand wandered over the other elf's side, the fingers of his left stretched out, touching the console, inevitably getting even closer. By the gods, hopefully Jake was ready to go. 

He touched the button on the display that was supposed to give the decker access. Nothing happened. Samuel bowels were cramping up. Emilio grabbed Samuel by the hips a moment later and pushed him backwards. Away from the console. The input window on the display disappeared and Samuel could see it turning black before Emilio gave him a push. He stumbled in surprise and fell backwards without being able to hold on. However, he did not land on the floor but on the bed of the captain of the smuggler ship. He climbed up after him as soon as Samuel was lying backwards on the bed. 

Samuel crawled backwards until he reached the head end of the bed. He still played along, but counted the seconds in his mind. Goodwin, move your ass!

On the Phoenix, Jake Goodwin, French decker, whose hairstyle always looked as if he had tried to tighten the electrical wires of the P-Nomad with wet hands while half asleep, sat in his "den", the computer room, in his chair, and stared at all the screens in front of him. One of many glowing cables was hanging from his data socket at his temple. Six holo-screens with various matrix fields floated around him. One display showed the exoskeleton of the smuggler ship, slowly rotating on its own axis. He wore VR glasses, entering commands by eye movement. On the Phoenix it had been noticed that the commander was no longer responding. Jake had tracked the movement of the armor and weapons of Wolfsbane. Probably everything had been taken from him. But he had probably not been shot. Savallian would have known about it immediately. In this case he or Emissary Samara Wolfsbane would have would have contacted the Phoenix immediately. Jake had noticed Wolfsbane was still wearing the in-ear headphones and tried to give him instructions.

Nothing had happened for more than twenty minutes then. Before that, he had seen the in-ear headphone transmitter move from one room to another after it had been there for about an hour. By then he had wanted to sound the alarm, but then decided to wait. Varius stood in the doorway to the computer room and stared at the screens. 

"What the hell is it now?" He growled.  
"Wasn't it you who told me to wait? And that our Commander..."  
„Yes, yes, yes. But now he's in the other captain's quarters." The Turian muttered.

Jake looked over his shoulder, through his VR glasses, at Varius.  
"You're not jealous now, are you?" He grinned.  
"Shut up." It came back grumpy.

Suddenly a signal came from the quarters where the in ear headphones were. Jake immediately turned around and stared at the screen. 

"There you go. He did it and opened a door for me. Let's see how well they're secured."

The decker began pounding on his keyboards and sending commands into the matrix. Windows popped up, strings of data began to run across four of the screens. Varius came along at first, but lost the thread in between. Decker's madness. 

"Ooooh, so simple, that was easy-peasy!" Jake complained. 

Varius stepped behind the chair and looked at the screens. Pictures appeared on three of them. Jake had hacked into two board cameras. On the third screen, signals and marks were now popping up. Crew's quarters, kitchen, wet room, engine room, cargo hold, bridge, captain's quarters and other rooms appeared, were named, even the equipment inside the rooms was visible. Moving signals popped up.

"Okay, so here we have the crew. Eight people." He concluded. "Wolfsbane is either here in this container and is dead...ouch!“ Varius gave him a cuff in the neck. "Just kidding. He is probably in the captain's quarters and could be reached via a terminal-..."  
"Would you finally occupy those guys?." Varius asked. "And if you see any vehicles or drones, let me know."

Samuel slowly became nervous. His decker didn't make a sound at all. Emilio leaned down to him and gently bit his neck, while he intrepidly ran his hand under the white-haired elf's dark shirt and scratched across his belly. Samuel put his hands on Emilio's back and walked up to his neck. He was about to send him into dreamland with a few simple moves, when suddenly the console started playing loud music. Both looked up and to the terminal. Emilio was completely irritated, Samuel on the other hand was smiling cautiously. He had recognized the melody immediately. It was a more modern version of "The Good The Bad And The Ugly", an ancient song from the distant past that Goodwin simply still loved. He had made his own mix of it and christened it "The Goodwin The Bad And The Ugly". Exactly this theme was running now.

"What the fucking hell." Emilio mumbled and climbed down from Samuel. He breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks to Amonkira. 

"What is it? he asked and sat up.  
"I don't know." 

Emilio stepped to the console and was about to operate it when suddenly a stylized Aztec gold coin flashed up. The skull in the middle blinked once and then began to laugh. Jake's matrix icon. Emilio activated his microphone at the door and put his crew on alert for a hacker attack. Then he turned to Samuel who, legs now on the floor, was still sitting on the bed, pretending to be confused as well. However, Emilio did not completely buy him. He grabbed him by his collar and pressed him down on the bed. 

"I thought to myself that I had noticed something earlier. But I was almost certain that nobody could be that inconspicuous." He rumbled. 

From somewhere he had suddenly pulled a Raikou pistol - probably from the drawer of the side table. Grave mistake of Samuel not to look there immediately - and held it against the white-haired man's jaw. He exerted slight pressure on him, so that Samuel was better off letting himself sink to the bed.

"Lie down. And don't move."  
"Relax." Samuel said calmly. He decided not to do anything rash for the moment.

Emilio reached into the drawer again and pulled out handcuffs. Abruptly he ordered Samuel to put his arms up to the headboard of the bed before handcuffing him to a bar. After he had finished, Emilio paused and looked leering at the other elf.

"If you really have nothing to do with this, we can continue right here in short." He purred.  
"And if yes?" Samuel asked, slightly provocatively.

Emilio grabbed him by the collar, bent over to him and pressed a hard, firmly painful kiss on his lips, making Samuel pant.

"Then I will continue anyway. But then you will probably have not as much pleasure as I‘ll have." He whispered to him, licking over Samuels lips. Samuel made a quiet, angry growl. Emilio let go of him and got up from the bed. 

He watched Emilio leaving the quarters with his gun. As soon as he was alone he tried to free himself. But the handcuffs were rock solid. He would only get free if - wait a minute, of course!

"Jake? Can you hear me?" He called.  
The icon of the Aztec gold piece appeared on the screen again.  
_"Loud and clear, Commander."_

Jake's voice was coming from the ever-opening and closing mouth of the skull in the center of the coin. Samuel briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Thank the gods. Can you get these cuffs off?"  
There was a brief silence. Then the skull spoke again:  
_"Talorian asks why you are bound."_ Jake sounded amused.  
Samuel rolled his eyes.  
"That's none of his damn business! Open these things!"  
_"Yeah, well.“_ Jake started babbling.  
"What is it, Goodwin?“ Samuel asked, now slightly annoyed. He didn't know how much time he had left.  
_"It's more like a drone, I think."_  
"Then let Varius do it."  
_"But he'll destroy my devices with his claws!“_ That's what the decker said.  
"Are you fucking serious? Let the rigger working at your console! That's an order!“ Samuel snorted. He had no stomach for airs and graces now.  
_"I'm on it."_ Varius' voice rattled through the terminal speakers after a moment.  
_"You could have told me you're into bondage, Commander, so I..."_  
"Talorian!“ Samuel hissed. 

The bonds were finally released.  
"Perfect. Thank you, Varius." He said and got up from the bed.  
_"Anytime."_ It came back.  
_"Commander, be careful. We may keep the crew busy, but we'd better not get too colourful."_ Jake was back at his beloved devices.  
"That sounds reasonable. At least you're in control of the ship now." Samuel said.  
_"Heh, heh, heh, oooooh we are." _The decker giggled.__

__A scream came from outside. Samuel looked up._ _

___"Oops, that was the coffeemaker. I tweaked the nozzles a little bit."_ The decker was obviously enjoying himself.  
_"If you go outside, be careful not to slip. Found a small cleaning drone and overloaded its soap depot. The stuff is pouring in the hallways now.“_ Varius said. _ _

__A thud, somewhere not far from the captain's quarters, was heard and then loud Krogan cursing, _"Ha, did you see that, Goodwin?"_ Now Varius also began to laugh. _ _

__Samuel smiled gently and shook his head. He quickly went to the holomap and took another look at the nav point where the cargo Black wanted was supposed to be. He transferred the data to Jake in a few easy steps. Suddenly, however, the door to the captain's quarters opened again and Emilio Black entered. Samuel turned to face him and prepared to fight. When Black saw him next to the map and no longer handcuffed to the bed, he hesitated briefly but then raised his gun and aimed it at Samuel._ _

__"Off the map." He commanded._ _

__Samuel took a step aside and wondered if he could surprise Black. Nothing seemed to be able to distract him for the moment, though. Not even the cursing outside. The situation became rapidly more complicated, however, when the turian behind Emilio stepped into the quarters with his gun drawn. That was bad. With his gun, Emilio pointed towards the bed. Samuel hesitated, whereupon Black fired a warning shot that hit the ground just beside Samuel's leg. He flinched._ _

__"You're demolishing your quarters." He meant dryly, but with his hands raised, he started moving and sat down on the bed._ _

__Then he looked up at Emilio. He put his gun away and passed Samuel. The turian pointed at him all the time. It would be deadly to do anything now. Emilio grabbed the cuffs and Samuel by the collar to pull him up. He gave a surprised gasp._ _

__"Though I'm not sure how you managed to get out of the restraints. But I'll take better care of you this time, I promise." Emilio said._ _

__The smile that lay on his lips this time was cold. Quickly he had the adept chained to the bed again. He indicated to the turian to leave, whereupon the Turian disappeared. Then he sat down on the bed next to Samuel and looked at him._ _

__"Where were we? Oh, yes. I suppose you chose the part with lesser joy for you."_ _

__Samuel felt some anxiety, but suppressed his tension and continued to look at Emilio calmly, even as he pulled out a knife. Jake was by now connected and could see what was going on in the captain's quarters. Varius stood behind him and watched. He immediately became more restless when he saw what the black-haired elf was doing._ _

__"We're shutting the ship down at once!" Growled the turian. "What are you waiting for?"  
"I'm with you." Jake answered. "Don't rush me."  
"I'll do a lot more than that if you don't get your decker butt into the matrix!"  
"Oh, man, yeah, okay, watch the consoles."_ _

__Samuel heard Varius and Jake arguing. Emilio let the sharp blade go over Samuel's stomach and drove under the fabric. Samuel slowly started to regret that he had chosen not to take out the three bandits in Kadara Port._ _

__"Think carefully about what you are doing, Emilio." he said. "For now my people are just toying with your ship. But they can also paralyze it. Or destroy it." Emilio leaned down to him.  
"If your people feel the need to do so, you may not leave this ship alive." He replied._ _

__Without warning, he quickly drove up with the sharp blade and cut the thin shirt that Samuel was wearing. Only millimeters from his throat he paused with the knife. Samuel tensed up and swallowed. Emilio smiled with satisfaction._ _

__"They will take you apart afterwards, piece by piece. Do you seriously want to end up as a scrap heap in space? I thought you were so hot for the cargo."_ _

__He knew he wasn't good at negotiating. That's why he wasn't the diplomat. Samara was. Emilio seemed unimpressed despite the words and the potential danger out there. He held the knife to Samuel's throat. He then stretched his neck slightly and gritted his teeth briefly._ _

__"I must confess, however, that I am still just as hot for you. And your crew won't be able to help you that quickly.“_ _

__Emilio was not a nice man. However, he then realized that Samuel was not just bluffing to save his skin. Suddenly, a violent jolt went through the ship. At the same time, one could hear the turbines powering down. Then, little by little, everything stopped working until the emergency power supply came on. The Aztec coin now appeared not only on the Captain's terminal, but also on the bridge screen, as Emilio was shown. Distorted, a voice that Samuel knew well, came through the mouth of the skull. Jake had plugged in and was now controlling the smuggler ship as a data ghost._ _

___"This is Mictan, we have assumed complete control of your ship and can now play ball with you if we feel like it. ____ _

____As proof, the decker switched to the board cameras. From the wet room a huge foam gush came out of the bathroom, which spread quickly in the now accessible corridor. Somewhere in between one could see the small cleaning robot splashing around uncontrolled with soapy water. The sight was very amusing in itself, but some of the equipment and consoles, which were very sensitive to water, began to spark. One console was electrocuted and began to smoke. Two members of the crew were already trying to contain the damage and somehow stop the foam. Mictan jumped to another board camera. This time the cargo hold was visible. There, all the recovery drones had started to go crazy and attacked the crew members working there or threw loose objects around wildly. The crazy drones were of course Varius' work. A third time the picture changed and showed the bridge. All the screens, except the one showing the Aztec coin, showed some kind of spam. Advertisement about some asari perfume, a human woman presented shampoo, on the other screens a hanar porn started to run. At the medical station, the medical drone started spraying disinfectant wildly around itself and from the small kitchen two crew members escaped from a toaster running rampage._ _ _ _

____Black's face was frozen into a mask of disbelief. Samuel still had the knife at his throat, but he could not suppress a fleeting smile. Jake and Varius were obviously having the time of their lives. He could picture the two of them vividly, well, Jake not quite as vivid as he was hot in the matrix. However he could imagine Varius, as he entered commands into his consoles to make the hacked drones go crazy, sipping turian beer with relish. Jake also seemed to have a lot of fun, as one could see the coin laughingly twitching around on the screen, bouncing off the edgees of the screen like a ricochet. Samuel fixed the black-haired elf again. He was obviously speechless._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____"Let's renegotiate, Mr. Black." He said to Black in a calm tone.  
Emilio looked at him again. "Your crewmembers are playing silly games, excellent. But I hold you hostage and I have the power to kill you. You are my leverage." He said._ _ _ _

____"You don't really want that." Samuel looked deep into his eyes. He saw uncertainty in the soul mirrors of his captor. "Look, I had several chances to take you and your team out. I didn't do it. You still have the chance to win me and my crew as support in this mission. But the time to take advantage of that opportunity is limited."_ _ _ _

____Emilio looked at him with mild hostility. He seemed to weigh up his chances and options. Samuel knew, Emilio was absolutely right in one thing: he was at his mercy and he could at least do what he wanted with him. But that would mean that his smuggler ship would be pulverized. In the end Emilio seemed to have made a choice. He smiled mildly and temporarily created a feeling of uncertainty in the adept. Again he leaned close to Samuel, their noses almost touching and Samuel had the impression that Emilio wanted to kiss him again. Emilio laughed softly. He pressed the knife harder against Samuel's neck for a moment, so that he flinched slightly. A slight burning sensation told him that the knife had cut into his skin. Emilio lowered his head and ran the tip of his tongue over the stretched neck of his prisoner, over his chin to his lips, where he remained. Varius in front of the screen growled angrily. He would skin this son of a bitch alive if he went on._ _ _ _

____"I am curious. What do you intend to do now?" Breathed Emilio against Samuel's lips. "You are on my ship, in the middle of nowehere in the orbit and it is eight against one even without me. My crew is armed and not squeamish."_ _ _ _

____"I don't….. want to kill anyone. But I‘ll do it ...if I have to." Samuel replied, trying to remain calm. He resisted the urge to bite off Emilio's lip. For now. If he was right about the crew, it was not easy but feasible to take them all out. But first, he wanted to try to avoid dead bodies._ _ _ _

____"You are crazy. You will leave these quarters and be shot." Emilio mused._ _ _ _

____Samuel's gaze bored into Emilios. "You don't want to have me and my crew as an enemy. This is your last chance, Black. Together with my men I will take you and this ship apart inch by inch if I have to."_ _ _ _

____Almost at the same moment, something crashed into the door of the captain's quarters from outside and seemed to try to gain access. Judging by the sounds, it was one of the drones from the cargo hold. The two elves had turned their gaze to the door - Samuel had only turned his eyes to the side, as he still had the knife at his throat. Emilio looked at the door._ _ _ _

____"You won't even get out of this cabin alive unless you give in." Samuel said._ _ _ _

____Emilio didn't seem completely unaffected by that threat. He listened up when someone outside started screaming and a sound was heard that was not unlike a flamethrower. In between, the lights around began to flicker. He looked up. Then he looked at the white-haired man again. Finally he sighed annoyed and took the knife from Samuel's throat._ _ _ _

____"Before your crazy matrix junkie paralyzes my ship completely. Call him off!" he growled.  
"You'll have to untie me first." Samule demanded.  
„Fine.“ Emilio reluctantly complied. _ _ _ _

____He kept his pistol on his magnetic holster, because he still did not trust Samuel. He stepped up to the terminal and ordered Jake, alias Micta, to withdraw. The coin actually disappeared from the screen. But anyone who thought the decker had completely withdrawn was gullible. Jake still had his eyes and ears at least where his commander was and even Varius could hear and see what was going on in the captain's quarters._ _ _ _

_____"Commander, we can still hear and see."_ Jake informed his boss before he muted himself again. _ _ _ _

____ _ _

____"Good thing that our Commander has such phenomenal guys like us, huh?" Said the decker.  
"This asshole Black is lucky he switched his brain on at the last second, or I would have sent the repair drone after him." Varius growled._ _ _ _

____That made Jake turn around again in his chair for a moment and look up with his glowing cyber eyes. He saw the turian's disgruntled look and had to grin. Turning back to the front, he teased him: "Hey, you actually **are** jealous!"_ _ _ _

____"Shut up." Said Varius. In fact, he had not liked the previous view very much. If anyone tied the commander to the bed and touched him, it was him. And not that pompous guy there. Okay, jealousy was actually something he wanted to avoid altogether. He just wanted to get the Commander into bed. Nothing else. And he would!_ _ _ _

____"Okay, yeah, it‘s obvious. But, hey, well, in fact, it's no secret on this ship that you have a crush on the Commander. But I wouldn't get my hopes up." Jake said.  
Varius gave him a look. He didn't even deny the statement, he just asked: "why?_ _ _ _

____"Well, if what Var says is true - and he has his eyes and ears everywhere I can't have them - then Wolfsbane has his eye on this angara after all.“ Replied Jake.  
Varius shrugged his shoulders: "Yes, I noticed. But I guess the date didn't go well."_ _ _ _

____Everyone except Samuel thought that this was a date at the time. Jake smiled to himself and typed something into his deck. "We'll see." He said._ _ _ _

____Wait and see? Wasn't really Varius' intention. On the contrary. He had his goals and he would persistently pursue them. But for the moment that was irrelevant. They concentrated again on what was happening on the smuggler ship. In the quarters, Samuel slowly approached the holomap, but kept an eye on Emilio. He drove over his neck. The wound seemed to stop bleeding. Should a shot accidentally come loose from the gun of Varius, Trox, Teekoy or anyone else on the way and hit Black, Samuel would not really regret it. He could even well imagine that Varius would save his first shot especially for Black. And he would let him go._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____"Tell me about the cargo on Elaaden. I can't really imagine you're doing all this for a small crate of whisky, no matter how old it is." Samuel demanded.  
"What if there really is just that one treasure?" Emilio replied._ _ _ _

____Samuel turned to Emilio again. He pierced him with the gaze of almost white diamond eyes. Emilio would have been attracted to this intense look of the other at another time._ _ _ _

____"Come on. I'll find out anyway. When I know more, I'll be able to help you get to the stuff much better. After all, you told me there was trouble. No one is so desperate to get their head bashed in over a case of alcohol, not even on Elaaden.."_ _ _ _

____"All right." Said Emilio and stepped next to the holomap. "There're a lot more goods at this point, at least if what my informants told me is true. The angara put supplies in containers there about a year ago, but in the turmoil of the New Order they seem to have forgotten.“_ _ _ _

____"What kind of supplies?" Samuel wanted to know and crossed his arms in front of his chest._ _ _ _

____"Arms above all. Armor, communication relays, a few drones, some antique junk. If it's true. Merchandise that will make a lot of money. The whisky is just the icing on the cake."_ _ _ _

____Samuel heard Jake's voice: _"Commander, we can impound the stuff."_ He nodded, which was a confirmation for the decker, but Emilio didn't notice. He raised his shoulders._ _ _ _

____"And what makes the pickup more difficult, we will see on the spot."_ _ _ _

____Samuel looked at Elaaden's map and did not answer. Emilio looked at him and boldly asked, "And now? I suppose our lovely business in my bed will not take place, huh?"_ _ _ _

____Samuel looked at him and slightly lowered his eyelids: "you assume correctly."  
Emilio bowed his head and smiled thinly: "What a pity. And I thought earlier you were really interested."_ _ _ _

____Samuel did not return the smile. "I think I'd better get back to the observation deck. You can leave my equipment under lock and key until we arrive on Elaaden. Your crew and you leave me in peace. Then we will go together to the nav point where your cargo is supposed to be and have a look at it."_ _ _ _

____Emilio didn't feel like discussing the matter and let Samuel go. He accompanied him back to the observation deck. On the way they had to avoid huge puddles of water and pools of various liquids in the corridors. The crew was busy tidying up or making small repairs. Jake and Varius had done a great job. And probably hadn't even started yet. They were also his assurance that he would be left alone. And indeed, he remained undisturbed, even when he went to the not-so-flooded bathroom. At Elaaden, he would have to get something to eat. Fortunately, however, the bar on the observation deck had water._ _ _ _

_____"Commander, Goodwin has locked the door to your deck. The smugglers should not be allowed to enter for the time being._ Varius informed him.  
„Thanks guys.“ Samuel sighed. _ _ _ _

____That was good news. So he was safe in here for the time being. His crew was the best. As much nonsense as they had in their heads, they were professional and foresighted when things got serious. Samuel felt tiredness creeping up on him. In space, it was hard to tell how much time was passing, but his body eventually felt the need to sleep. To rest here on the smuggler ship was dangerous despite the lock. Not least because he still reckoned that one turian could storm onto the deck and shoot him. But even he could not stay awake forever. So he just crawled behind the bar counter and made himself comfortable as far as possible. If someone wanted to storm onto the deck, he would be safe back here temporarily. Nevertheless, it became a restless sleep._ _ _ _


	10. Chapter 8: Exaggeration and Eirochs

Elaaden's atmosphere had changed over the past years, thanks to Pathfinder Ryder's reactivation of the vault. The scorching sun could no longer affect the planet's surface as much as it did 15 years ago, the humidity had increased and the desert planet had become habitable for other Milky Way species than just the Kkrogans, who had founded their colony of New Tuchanka at that time. The underground water reservoir discovered at that time had contributed enormously to the spread of life. Nevertheless, Elaaden was still a desert planet and, because the sun never set here, it still had a regular surface temperature of 30 to 40 degrees. Meanwhile, the krogans were doing brisk trade with the Nexus and Meridian, many had left Elaaden and moved to Meridian. Most of the species, however, had settled in New Tuchanka. 

The smuggler ship and the Phoenix, which now accompanied it openly, landed about 200 meters apart in the newly established landing zone near New Tuchanka. Needless to say, the atmosphere on Captain Black's ship was anything but good. However, he had told his crew not to harm their "guest". At least temporarily not. Depending on how this whole curious adventure would unfold, he might make sure that "Sekhmet" suffered an accident. It would be a pity for such an attractive man, but things happened. Samuel was able to leave the smuggler ship in armor. His firearms had not been returned to him, though. The fear was probably too great that he would immediately shoot around with them. Samuel had asked to at least tell his crew to bring him his melee weapons. None of the smugglers was aware that he was way more dangerous with them than with firearms. Samuel did not consider it necessary to explain this. 

He had entrusted Nakmor Trox Ghurak to bring him his favorite melee weapons. The krogan approached the smuggler team a few minutes after the two ships had landed in the LZ. He was accompanied by Varius Talorian and Caliria Adrascus. The two Turians had insisted on being part of the squad for this mission and Samuel had let them go. Varius looked like he had a score to settle with the smugglers anyway. Here, too, he would let the turians go. Trox confronted the not very trustworthy group of smugglers. Emilio Black had the quarian Keni and the turian, whose name was Cestro, and a krogan, who, for whatever reason, had spray paint on his face, with him. The three all looked very, very bad-tempered. Samuel paid no attention to them. Trox approached the group and handed his commander two sword scabbards. They were asari swords. Emilio watched the whole thing and raised one eyebrow. The colored krogan grunted contemptuously. The mood was tense.

The teams set themselves in motion. Emilio insisted that Samuel would go with him in his vehicle. For safety. He did not want to risk the Phoenix crew doing something stupid. Samuel agreed, against the opinion of his squad mates. In his place, Cestro joined the Phoenix crew in the vehicle. Samuel sat in the back next to the quarian. The trip went on silently. Even Emilio did not speak much. After about three-quarters of an hour of driving, they had finally reached the navpoint. It was located in a canyon, not far from one of the many craters on the desert planet. A cave. About a kilometer away, the remains of gigantic relic formations scattered across the planet's surface could be seen. 

The teams got out of their vehicles about 20 meters from the cave and approached the entrance. They had almost reached it when something moved behind a rock. Varius had seen it first. He stopped and aimed at the rock while informing his squad. Black's squad stopped as well. A moment later Keni noticed a movement in a thin crevice in the rock. Behind the rock that Varius was aiming at, an oversized green-orange insect crawled out with two powerful scissors. A kaerkyn. Another came out of the crevice, but immediately ran along the rock wall, into the cave, when it saw the bipeds.

"Kaerkyn." Said Caliria.  
"Disgusting." Resented the krogan from Black's team and shot the Kaerkyn over the edge. 

It literally burst and spread in all directions. A third animal crawled out and seemed to look at the dead animal. This one was shot down as well.

"Stop that!" Hissed Black at the krogan.  
"They're not usually hostile right away." Said Varius.

Soft scratching and scrabbling made the group sit up and take notice. Out of the corner of his eye, Cestro noticed movements. Three kaerkyn disengaged from the shadow of the rock and slowly crawled towards the group. Samuel, who was in the front with Emilio and closest to the cave entrance, slowly turned towards the entrance and stared into the darkness as the strange noises grew louder.

"Unless you meet them in a swarm." He said silently. 

Varius aimed at the cave entrance. Caliria did the same. The sound became louder and louder and then they saw it. A huge gush of kaerkyn crawled towards them croaking and clattering. Black cried out: "wow!” And retreated. Samuel drew his swords. Trox was next to him within a heartbeat. Then the fight broke out. Eight against dozens of crawling, hissing giant insects. Shots filled the air. Nasty screeching filled the gorge when a kaerkyn was shot down. Green guts were thrown through the air when the insects burst. The armour of the fighters was covered with green slime splashes. Trox swung his war hammer and let it drive right into the middle of the attacking insects. Some of them scattered, four were literally beaten flat. Trox lifted the hammer, which was now covered with insect entrails and laughed. Samuel gave him a quick glance after he had cut two kaerkyn with his swords. As noted once: krogans simply always enjoyed fighting. 

The riflemen mowed down the swarm one by one. Varius aimed, shot and hit. He never missed a single shot and did it with such remarkable routine, as if he was standing on a wall somewhere all day long doing target practice on kaerkyn. The quarian Keni, however, was also very unerring. She sent out a small combat drone, which fired around. Slowly the swarm was decimated. First animals began to retreat into the cave or to hide in crevices. It seemed as if an end of the slaughter was in sight. Until... the insects that had run into the cave suddenly came running out again. But this time not to attack the teams, but to escape. Almost nobody noticed this at first. One continued to fight resolutely.

"Ha ha, finally, we won!" cried Varius.  
"The beasts are retreating." Said Emilio.  
"Yes, they finally got scared of us." Trox added satisfied.

A muffled rumble emanated from the cave and accelerated the insects' flight. The fighters stopped. 

"What was that?" Keni asked.  
"Anything from the cave? Maybe there's a volcano there." Caliria said.  
"I don't think that was a volcano. They didn't flee because of us." Samuel said.

Varius tore his rifle around and aimed into the darkness of the cave. He had discovered something.  
"Squad...something is coming." He warned.

Everyone was staring at the cave entrance now.

The ground shook as a giant figure emerged from the black of the cave. It filled almost the entire entrance. Deeply and angrily rumbling, a creature stepped into the glaring sunlight, which did justice to the term "mighty". It was the largest beast that Samuel and his crew and probably Emilio and his people had ever seen. A huge, a truly gigantic ancient eiroch appeared. One knew of ancient eirochs that they were big. But big no longer applied to this. This animal seemed to have reached this insane size in the course of the influence through the activated vault or through other influences. It struck the sandy ground several times in anger with its powerful hands and one could feel the earth vibrating gently. 

The two teams first just stood there and stared at the huge monster. None of them moved. Not even Trox made a sound. Samuel and Emilio stood side by side with their mouths open and stared at the monster. Keni was the first to break free from their paralysis and shoot the eiroch. It hit, but the shot bounced off, apparently not even leaving a scratch on the horny thick skin. But the eiroch roared. 

"Great, now she's made him mad!" Caliria screamed. 

Then it started. The eiroch swung out and struck in the direction of Emilio and Samuel, who were in the front. A huge shadow, which grew bigger and bigger, fell on them. Emilio swerved to the left, Samuel jumped away to the right. The eirochs fist crashed into the sand and would have crushed the two men effortlessly. Now shots were fired. Shots were fired from all sides. Trox was the first to run with his Krogan war hammer directly at the animal and roared. He managed to reach the eiroch and hit the beast's forearm with all his might. The beast roared and retreated at first. However, it was only now that the pain really drove it on. It leapt towards Trox, who grabbed his hammer firmly and stared at the beast. His triumphant expression faded and became rigid.

"Trox!" cried Varius. 

He fired and hit the head of the beast, which was distracted. His blow just barely missed the receding krogan. Trox nevertheless fell to the ground, due to the force of the mere impact next to him. Emilio and his crew had retreated and started shooting as well. But none of the shots seemed to hurt the animal. It only got angrier. Orders to retreat were shouted after several minutes of fighting. The two teams fled to a nearby crevice in the rock where the angry eiroch could not reach them. Not yet. It already started to tear down the rock. Dust and stone trickled down on the fighters. The noise was deafening, so that one had to shout at each other to understand anything. 

"We can't hurt it with our firearms!" Shouted Keni.  
"That bastard must have some weakness!" Growled Varius.

Samuel looked over at the marauding eiroch. It soon would have destroyed the rocks. The hiding place became more and more unstable. The kaerkyns distraction, who crawled panickedly on the floor and along the walls, even crawling and tearing over the eiroch, was only short-lived. 

"I think I know some." He said. Then he jumped up and ran out of the crevice.  
"Boy!" Trox yelled after him. 

Samuel didn’t listen. He ran straight for the giant eiroch. The beast finally saw him and rushed towards him with wild roaring. The rest of the team could do nothing but watch for moment.

"Let's give him cover from the insects!" Keni suddenly shouted. She shot down one of the animals that had tried to pounce on Samuel. 

Samuel summoned the Ki . The eiroch reached out and wanted to smash Samuel with his fist. He jumped off, jumped on the clenched fist and ran up the arm. He jumped off again, dodged the second blow of the other fist and bounced back. In some kind of bold flyby attack he pulled his two Asari swords from his back and landed on the animal's back. At the top he hit two of the kaerkyn, who had been crawling around disoriented on the back of the eiroch. Two others were shot down by Varius and Caliria. The eiroch reared up furiously and tried to shake off the elf on his back, but the adept held on tight and with great agility climbed over his neck like a cat. Again the monster roared up and jumped off. Samuel was thrown into the air. He skilfully exploited this release of kinetic energy to drive one of the deadly swords directly into the eye of the eiroch. Another bloodcurdling roar. The animal staggered, shook its massive head, roared, struck at the attacker - hit! Samuel was smashed to the ground. 

The Phoenix squad mates cried out when their commander disappeared in the cloud of dust. But a few seconds later they saw the blades flashing. Roar, blood flowed. The armpits were not protected by thick horn plates. Samuel had swerved and struck. Now he ran under the belly of the animal before another powerful blow, dodged one of the hind legs that would have crushed him, stabbed again. The groin was unprotected. Blood gushed out in torrents. But the blade was stuck. He had to leave it behind and stumbled away from the stomping hind leg. The monster cried out, lifted up to its hind legs like gorillas on earth in the Milky Way used to do. Samuel foolhardy used the opportunity to climb up on one of the legs, sideways along the horned outgrowths of the animal, as if he was climbing up a rock face. 

“What are we’re doing here, let’s help the boy!” 

Trox gave a battle cry and stormed off to fight the eiroch, followed by his conspecific. The others started to shoot at the kaerkyn until they finally fled. Samuel, now on the animal's shoulder, held on tight and pulled himself up with all his might before balancing on the shoulder for a few seconds. It not only looked dangerous. One false step and he would fall and be trampled by the eiroch.

"He is insane. The guy is absolutely insane! And so are the others." Emilio screamed.

The eiroch, furious from pain and anger, bleeding from various wounds, made a mighty blow to the side to slay Trox. The two Krogans had begun to occupy the beast and attacked it from two sides, striking its limbs and flanks. Black's team member was hit by one of the powerful legs and knocked to the ground, but got up again. Trox rushed in front of the eiroch and distracted him with roars and blows. 

Samuel jumped again and managed to land on the broad skull of the animal. The eiroch roared, jumped into the air itself, Samuel was hurled, but like a dancer he bounced upwards, nearly levitating above the eirochs skull for a moment. He held the asari blade with both hands above his head, the tip pointing downwards and shining brightly in the glaring sun as he pushed it deep down through the eye into the skull one moment later. This time he reached the brain and inflichted a deadly wound. The monster roared, staggered, stumbled and fell to the ground, causing another quake. One could see a silhouette jumping off and landing in front of the dying beast in a half-kneeling position, the flashing blade stretched out to the side while the two krogans ran back to the rest of the troop. A cloud of dust was emitted throughout the ravine, robbing everyone inside of sight. Then there was dead silence.

A few minutes had to pass before one could slowly see anything again. The coughing team of the Phoenix and the team around Black tried to orientate. The dead eiroch lay on his stomach, a trickle of blood flowing from both eyes down to the sandy ground. No one was able to say anything. Released from the dusty mist, someone approached the group hobbling. It was Samuel who held one of the two bloody asari blades in his hand. The dead eiroch behind him looked like a big hill. Samuel stopped and looked towards the other fighters. They took turns staring at him and the huge beast. Dead silence. In the background a piece of rock broke off and fell to the ground, as if even the gorge had lost its composure. Emilio stood there with his mouth open. Caliria groaned. Varius had lowered his rifle and stood there with a look on his face as if someone had just explained to him that turians were descended from unicorns. The Black Crew showed similar facial expressions. Samuel, out of breath, looked up at his team mates and at first knew nothing else but to shrug his shoulders gently. Trox was the first to speak.

"Boy?! Tell me... do you always have to show off like that?"  
Samuel looked at him guiltily. "Sorry?" He muttered. "...thanks for helping, Trox."  
The Krogan just growled, but Samuel thought he could see a smile in the grumpy broad face.  
Silence again.  
"Well. Anyway... I guess the way is clear now." Varius finally said dryly.

Samuel glanced at Varius for a moment, then turned around and hobbled to the dead eiroch, in whose rear right groin the second Asarian sword was still in place. He climbed on his leg, put one foot against the flesh and pulled the blade, which came off smackingly, accompanied by another gush of blood that ran fast. Samuel shook out the blade. With two flowing movements he let them snap crossed on the back holders of his armor before he jumped off the animal and walked towards the cave. Silently, the team members began to follow him. Emilio was still standing there, staring into space. Keni stopped beside him for a moment. She looked at her boss. Then she looked towards Samuel.

"Now I think he could have taken our ship apart on his own." She said and went on.  
Caliria passed Emilio and agreed with Keni: "Yep."  
Trox finally patted Emilio on the shoulder and released him from his paralysis. "You are lucky that our commander is such a nice person." He growled.  
Emilio swallowed hard. Then he followed the rest of the troop with embarrassed silence.

Samuel, who had gone ahead, stopped inside the cave and staggered. He steadied himself with one hand to the rock face and lowered his head, closing his eyes briefly. Caliria stepped beside him.

"I everything okay, Commander?"  
"I'm fine, thanks. Just a headache." Samuel replied quietly.

Every time he summend ki-powers, he had to pay a price. Mostly it was headache for one or a weaker power. Nosebleeding for two or a stronger power. Heavy pain or unconsciousness up to coma on several powers activate at the same time. Dr. Ven’Tisa once told him it could even kill him. But Samuel knew if it once was necessary he also would die for the greater good. But today wasn’t that day. He detached himself from the wall and went on before the rest of the group caught up with them. Caliria stayed for a moment and looked after him thoughtfully. Varius stepped beside her, followed her gaze and sighed.

"I so gonna lay him." He said monotonously before he went on.  
Caliria grinned and murmured: "understandable. Good luck." As she followed him.

The cargo was deeply hidden inside the cave. Six containers, some of which had been used by the kaerkyn as nesting grounds and therefore first had to be cleared of wood, bones and other debris, could be secured. One container had angaran and kett weapons. Another one contained armor and armor parts of the Resistance and the Roekaar. A third one contained all kinds of communication equipment, drones and even spy equipment. The fourth one had old partially destroyed crates, which mainly contained scrap metal. In one of them, however, artifacts were found that could be interesting for the museum on Aya. In the smallest container whisky was actually discovered. 

"Here you have your whisky. By the liter." Said Samuel to Black.  
"Excellent." He answered.  
"We will seize the remaining containers in the name of the Alliance." Varius joined the two and caught a frown from Black.  
"Excuse me? We are to go away completely empty? That is out of the question." He protested.  
"You're welcome to discuss it with my hammer." Trox built himself up before Black.

Immediately all weapons were drawn and directed to the respective opposing side. Keni, however, seemed to hesitate and raised her gun very, very slowly. Samuel noticed this. He looked at Black again. 

"We could make an agreement. You renounce your illegal activities and join the Alliance as a transporter with your crew".  
Black laughed lifelessly.  
"Uhm, no, thanks. I will _never again_ sacrifice my life to this bunch of hypocritical lying bureaucrats. We'll take the weapons. You can keep the rest for all I care."

Samuel looked at Emilio for a few long moments in silence. His crew waited. Black's crew waited. The guns were cocked and almost no one had a problem pulling the trigger. Varius and Cestro least of all. Cestro aimed at Samuel. Varius aimed at Emilio. Samuel listened to his inner voice. He wanted to prevent bloodshed in here. Because he knew that there would be deaths. But he wanted to return the weapons and the remaining containers to the Resistance. He would kill. Because he was absolutely capable of. His APEX squad was team of assassins. But this wasn't a killing mission here.

The moment passed and he made a decision. His crew members did not receive the silent order to shoot.

"Okay. You may take the Kett weapons. We will keep the angaran weapons. Additionally, you may keep the Roekaar armor." He said.

Emilio was about to say something and was probably going to continue negotiating, but Samuel took a step towards him and looked deep into his eyes. Cestro aimed at him very closely. And so did Varius at Black.

"This is my only offer." He whispered.

The seconds tore away. The air was thick to cut. Varius' claw on the trigger tightened and loosened again. Trox emitted a soft, deep growl. Cestro's mandibles opened and closed tightly. Keni shifted her weight from her left leg to her right leg and back again while she aimed nervously. The krogan behind Black snorted. Caliria aimed at him. Then the situation seemed to resolve itself when Emilio finally spoke.

"All right? Fine. We'll take the Kett and Roekaar equipment with us.” He smiled and took a slow step back, while raising his arms a little to the side to demonstrate he was no danger. 

It was up to the krogans to sort the equipment now, while Varius called a drone to help them with the transport. Black's vehicle was big enough and had extra room for the goods to be transported. In case of doubt, the two teams would have to drive several times. Caliria, Keni and Cestro supervised the whole thing while Samuel and Black looked at the equipment in the other containers. Samuel walked past Black to the container in which the scrap metal was located. He entered the dark small room and crouched down to examine the crate. Maybe there was something useful for the museum in it. Black silently followed him and looked at the back of the other one, over which the snow-white hair flowed.

"What powers do you have there?" He asked. "That's not biotics. ...is it?"  
"No, it's not." Samuel replied without looking at him. 

He pulled out a strangely shaped object that reminded him with a lot of imagination of an alien harp. The strings, if the instrument had ever had any, were missing. Next to the harp was something like a wind instrument. Samuel decided to take the whole box and grabbed it. Just at that moment Black crouched down next to him and prevented him from getting up. Samuel looked up at him questioningly and suspiciously.

"Someone with your powers can certainly do a lot of jobs that others can't." Whispered Black.  
"I have done a lot of jobs. Those days are over." Samuel replied quietly.  
Black shrugged and let go of the white-haired man.  
"We shall see."

With the box in his arms, Samuel left the container and made his way outside. In the meantime the dead eiroch had attracted some kaerkyn. It was time to get out of here. He loaded the crate onto the transport drone that had just returned and looked around for his team members. Suddenly Keni stood in front of him. Questioningly, he looked at her.

"Well, I find your fighting style very impressive." She started and looked at him through the purple visor.  
"What I saw of you, however, was also very impressive. You are excellent at shooting and you can call drones." Samuel replied.  
"I can do a little bit of everything. Some things, some worse than others. On the ship, I'm everywhere. I can be useful anywhere. And I actually prefer honest work." She said.  
Samuel looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds. Did this just become some kind of application?  
"That sounds..." he started slowly, "so you…..are thinking about changing employers?"

Keni nested nervously with the three fingers of her hands on the strap of her rifle. quarians, like turians, only had three long fingers at each hand. But their fingers weren't claw-like like the fingers of turians.  
"You might want to think about it." She spoke again.

"Keni is one of our team." 

Suddenly a voice with flanging effect rumbled behind Samuel, much less attractive than the voice of Varius, not at all female, so he actually didn't need to turn around to know that it was Cestro. However of course he turned around as Cestro was someone who certainly would should him in the back of his head without hestitating.

Keni took the floor: "it is my decision to..."  
Cestro interrupted her abruptly: "You have no say in this matter, Keni.”

Samuel narrowed his eyes for a moment and fixed the turian.  
"If she want to go somewhere else and maybe improve her life, that's her decision."

Cestro looked from Keni to Samuel again. Anger burned in his eyes. And jealousy?  
"She stays with us. And you get out of here with your crew while you can and let us do our job." Cestro growled.  
"I am very much interested in the free will of others when it poses no danger to anyone." Samuel said calmly.  
"I don't care in what you are interested." Returned Cestro brusquely. 

In the meantime, Caliria, Trox and the other krogan had gathered near the three of them and watched the argument suspiciously.

"You won't be making any more decisions about me, Cestro!" Suddenly Keni called out and tore her rifle upwards, pointing it at the turian. 

At the same moment, he drew his pistol, but it was not aimed at the quarian, but directly at Samuel's head. The others immediately drew their weapons. Samuel was the only one who stood still.

“You’re making a mistake. Calm down.” Samuel said calmly. He wasn’t afraid at all as it wasn’t the first time someone pointed a pistol at his face.  
"Shut up!” Cestro hissed and said to Keni: “it is because of this guy here, isn't it? He has put ideas into your head. You're staying with us!" His triggering finger became nervous. "All the better if I shoot the pointy-eared bastard right now." 

Cestro wasn't joking. A shot rang out! Samuel flinched and gasped, widening his eyes for a moment. Almost simultaneously, a second shot tore the silence apart. The double hiss of the hypersonic cartridges echoed from the rock faces. Samuel still stood there in silence. Blood ran from his forehead. Cestro's eyes had suddenly become empty. He stared at Samuel, no, he stared through him. Then he tipped over to the side with a pierced back of his head and lay dead on the ground. A pool of blue blood began to form under his head. About seven meters behind him stood Varius, who still held his pistol pointed at the spot where Cestro had just stood. He slowly lowered his gun. Without a movement in his face, he looked at Samuel. His expression was icy cold. Samuel returned his gaze in silence, without really showing his own emotions, but breathed out slowly. There was deathly silence.


	11. Chapter 9: Sekhmet – Mistress of Dread

Emilio Black had returned and like everyone else had seen what had happened. He too just stood there for a few seconds, staring alternately at Samuel. Cresto, was lying dead in the sand. Keni was frozen and could not take her eyes off the dead man. Samuel could not quite understand what it looked like inside her. He turned to her and said softly:

"I'm sorry." Then he turned to Trox and Caliria and spoke in a firm voice: "we are finished here. Caliria, notify the Phoenix we're on our way back." Caliria confirmed.

Black slowly approached Samuel. He seemed to want to say something, his face showed anger, but when he saw the expression on the face of the commander of the Phoenix, he remained silent. Samuel's gaze had become hard. As Trox, Caliria and Keni slowly moved towards the vehicles, Samuel turned to Black and the krogan.

"You should burn him. It is recommended here, with all the wild animals."

He wanted to turn away and walk towards Varius. The rigger had stayed and waited. But the adept was suddenly stopped by the krogan, who grabbed him roughly by the upper arm and held him tight.

"You killed one of my men, I'll take one of yours in exchange." Emilio spoke coldly.

He aimed at Varius and shot immediately. The rigger gave a choked scream and fell to the ground. Samuel was briefly seized by a feeling of horror. He quickly regained control of himself. The two had just sealed their fate. Samuel moved faster than the krogan could react and punched him in the eye with his fist, one of the few places where krogans were very vulnerable. He howled dully and grabbed his eye. The hard grip loosened and Samuel could break free. In the next moment he had his deadly swords in his hands and dodged a mighty blow of the raging krogan.

Varius lay on the ground - he was still alive. Blue blood flowed from his side. Black had poor aim and shot him in the left flank. He had probably aimed for the heart. Lousy shooter. The pain was still horrible and made it impossible for the turian to help his commander. He could see him. How he whirled around the two enemies, how the two asari blades shimmered. It was like a dance. A deadly, beautiful dance. Varius couldn‘t help. How in the fucking world couldn‘t he fall in love with that guy? Fuck, no, that was a really bad idea as his commander wouldn‘t reciprocate those feelings. Thanks to the pain he quickly forgot about that again.

The krogan was sent so quickly to the ground that Black was now the one who was gripped by horror. He retreated as Samuel came after him. He raised his pistol and fired. Samuel tore one of the asari swords upwards and described a bow. This movement was so fast that one could hardly perceive it. A bright light flashed up, a metallic bang sounded. He had defended the cartridge with his sword. Black gasped in disbelief and retreated. He bounced his back against the rock. Samuel followed him and stood one heartbeat later in front of him, the two blades crossed at Black's neck. Just now Black saw that Samuel was bleeding from his jaw. He had not hit him directly. It had been the fragmented cartridge that had cut Samuel's jaw. Nevertheless: this man had cut a bullet in half. And now he stood in front of Black. The diamond eyes had taken on an icy expression. The attractive blood spilled face, however, was motionless.

"What, are you going to kill me now? Go ahead." Black hissed. The fact that Samuel didn't speak a word was uncanny.

Varius could hear a tortured scream reaching his ear. It was not Samuel's voice, but Blacks. Samuel stood before the black-haired elf. The right blade was still on his neck. With the left one he had let the sword go on Black's crook of his arm and cut off his forearm from his upper arm. Black fell screaming to his knees as Samuel backed away from him. Without a movement in his face he looked at the elf. He threw two medigel packs into the sandy ground in front of him. Black would survive if he cared for his grave wound now, which he would certainly do. Samuel picked up Emilio's pistol, fastened it to his belt and then quickly went to Varius. He had meanwhile managed to get into a kneeling position. Samuel got down on one knee next to him, pulled out the last medigel to fix his rigger.

"Commander, argh ..." Varius grunted.  
"I hope the medigel‘s enough for the time being." Samuel spoke softly and looked up at Varius from the gunshot wound. "Can you manage to get up and walk?"  
"Help would be appreciated." Varius nodded.

Samuel carefully helped the turian to his legs and braced him by standing next to him and putting an arm around his waist. Varius drew a face, but suppressed every sound of pain. The medigel would soon take effect and help him. Varius took a last look over to Emilio Black, who cared for his injury.

"The bastard deserved to die." Varius growled before they started moving. After a while he said: "you know, maybe I should get shot more often to get you that close, Commander - argh!"  
"Oh, sorry, I must have accidentally grabbed your bullet wound." Samuel said bone dry.  
"Mmmh, yes, I noticed." Varius grinned pained.  
"You just aren‘t able to stop doing this, are you?" Samuel said softly. A small hint of amusement lay in his voice.  
"Flirting with such a handsome, sexy guy like you? Never. And after your performance I am even more...motivated - ouch!" Varius whispered to him before he gasped again in pain.  
"Stop it." Murmured Samuel.  
„Mmh, never - oouch! Okay, okay! Stop torturing me!“

The two fighters arrived at the vehicles in front of which Trox and Caliria were already waiting impatiently. Keni was standing nearby typing on their omnitool. The two Phoenix members came towards their commander and Varius.

"What happened?" Caliria asked when she saw more blood in Samuels face and the wounded rigger.  
"Black wanted to avenge Cresto and shot at Varius." Explained Samuel and let Varius go.  
"Black is a really lousy pistol shooter. Medigel and a treatment by Dr. Ven'Tisa and I'm fit again." The turian groaned and groped slowly towards the vehicle.

Keni approached the group and addressed Samuel: "Is Black...?"  
Samuel looked at her. "No. But he has one arm less. However, your krogan friend is no longer alive."

Keni looked at him. Because of the milky purple visor it was always impossible to tell which facial expression a quarian had. Her voice, distorted by the microphone, did not give much information either. In any case, she sounded calm.

"He was not my friend. No one was. I worked off my debt on that ship. And I hated every minute."  
Samuel raised an eyebrow. "I understand."  
"Commander. I'd like to enlist on your ship." Said the quarian with determination. "I promise I'll be useful to you."

Samuel hesitated to answer. Keni waited nervously and his squad mates looked at him.

"Keni. What is your full name?" He asked.  
"Keni'Toras vas Xehala, but it is enough to call me Keni. I did not take the name of the smuggler ship."  
"Very well, Keni. I suggest you take the vehicle back to New Tuchanka..."

Samuel interrupted his sentence and looked past Keni towards the canyon. She and the rest of the squad followed his gaze. Emilio Black dragged himself towards them. He pressed his left arm, or what was left of it, against his body and held it with his healthy arm. So he walked slightly bent forward. Samuel passed Keni and took a few slow steps towards Black. He stared at Samuel with pain and hatred. The adept returned his gaze without any emotion.

"You...will regret this. Sekhmet. I...will hunt you and… bring you doom. I swear it...!" Emilio gasped before falling to his knees. He had lost much blood.  
"You are lucky that our commander let you live and you have such a cheeky mouth to feed him?" Growled Trox, who stepped beside Samuel.

Samuel raised a hand and told Trox to be silent. He actually obeyed. The adept slowly crouched down before Emilio and looked at him. He just looked at him. Just like before. Read inside him. It seemed to drive Emilio crazy.

"What is it? Cat got your tongue? Start talking!" He hissed.

A few moments passed again, in which nothing happened and no word came over the white-haired elf's lips. Suddenly he grabbed Emilio by the collar and pulled him close to his face. The movement was so fast and controlled that Black gasped in surprise. Samuel leaned over to him and whispered into Emilio's ear:

"If I were still Sekhmet, you wouldn't even have left Kadara Port alive. Or ... I would have waited until we reached the nav point. And massacred you all."

He broke away from Emilio. He looked at him and slowly rose.

"However. Sekhmet is gone. And you may keep your life. And the boxes I gave you." He looked at Trox and Keni as he continued: "Keni and Trox will accompany you in your vehicle. There you will return to your ship and your crew and disappear. Keni is free to do whatever she wants. Her debt to you is paid."

Emilio clenched the fist of his remaining hand. "But that...!" He wanted to protest, but fell into silence when he saw the icy look of Samuel. "I will tell my crew what happened." He snorted.  
Samuel nodded: "You do that. Tell them that the Phoenix is consistent with its enemies. But can be just as forgiving."

He examined the other elf once more. Then he turned around and walked towards the Phoenix vehicle. Keni and Trox took the smuggler ship's vehicle. Keni drove. Trox sat in the back with Emilio and kept an eye on him. Varius and Caliria drove together with their commander. After an uneventful trip back to New Tuchanka, Emilio was escorted to his ship with the crates he was allowed to keep, which contained Roekaar and kett equipment, and his expensive whisky. Samuel and his crew left him standing about 200 meters from the ship. From there he could call his crew.

"Sekhmet!"

Black's voice resounded once more across the sandy plain to the group that had made its way to their ship. Samuel stopped and turned to Emilio.

"We meet again." He said.

A threat? Perhaps. Samuel nodded at him. He wanted to follow his squad mates who had walked a bit further when Keni rushed towards him, past Black, ignoring him. She was carrying a medium-sized suitcase with air vents. Samuel waited until she reached him and looked at her. She gasped for air. Apparently she had hurried back very quickly before the Phoenix crew left.

"Commander Sekhmet vas Phoenix!"  
"Wolfsbane. Samuel Wolfsbane." Samuel now introduced himself with his real name.  
"Commander Samuel...Wolfsbane vas Phoenix!" She nodded and took a breath. "I want to come with you." She said again determinedly.

Samuel lowered his eyes and looked at the case. He pointed to it.

"And that...?" He asked, carefully.  
"...is Tiberius! A dear and equally useful animal. His DNA consists of 75% dachshund DNA, 20% of DNA from an endemic, dog-like species and the remaining 5% is synthetic. He is an andromedarian space dachshund."

Caliria laughed. Varius, who was braced by her, opened his mandibles a bit and hummed softly. Trox made a long face, but did nothing else but waiting. He had a hunch was could come. Samuel looked at Keni in disbelief.

"Um...okay? I've never seen anything like it."  
"He's one of the first of his kind. I bred him." Keni said proudly.

Tiberius


	12. Interlude 3: Hard Alcohol and Fatal Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varius' longing for his commander is great. On Trox's birthday, he simply has to dare and manages to lure the heavily drunk elf to his quarters.
> 
> WARNING: explicit sexual content. Don't read if you don't like it. For all others: enjoy ;)
> 
> Samara's Japanese Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXXbTwL79R0
> 
> Tango scene music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXOlG20bO9A

The unpleasant encounter with the smugglers and the fight against wildlife on Elaaden had by no means delayed the preparations for Trox Ghurak's birthday party. After all, Trox's birthday had been the reason that Samuel had traveled to Kadara Port with the two turians. There he had met Emilio Black and his gang and had gotten to know the quarian Keni'Toras vas Xehala in the course of the events.

Samuel was no less skeptical than his crew about accepting her and especially this ominous space dachshund on board. But he had decided to give the quarian a chance. She now had time to prove herself. She was the only one of the smuggler ship that had "applied" and gave the impression that she wanted to walk on a more righteous path again. The rest of the crew around Emilio Black had sworn bitter revenge to the Phoenix crew for the death of their two crew members. None of them had wanted to renounce their illegal existence, except Keni. It remains to be seen whether the smugglers' gang would still regret their trouble. But Samuel saw no further threat in them at first. 

The entertainment deck was packed that evening. Fourteen crew members and their commander, plus a space dachshund, cavorted on the deck, partying, drinking and dancing all evening. Dr. Ven'Tisa, along with Patricia Potter and Jennifer Sola, had prepared a gift table where all the gifts for Trox were presented after he had received and unwrapped them. Even though he had often emphasized that this crew had taken on so much unnecessary nonsense to offer him a surprise party - and he had threatened weeks before that he would not be congratulated - old grumpy krogan had been touched that so much effort had been made. The surprise party for Trox was a complete success. Jake Goodwin was the one who put on the music, while Patricia Potter and the Watts twins provided food and drink until the crew members were enjoying themselves at the deck bar anyway.

One of the highlights of the party was Samara's harp playing and her duet with Patricia. They sang a Japanese tune to the delicate sounds and enchanted the whole crew. Cheen, Jennifer and Keni, who of course was there - she had actually asked quite shyly whether she could participate - even battled with tears. Another highlight was a salsa, where Patricia had brought Samuel onto the dance floor. To hot Spanish sounds the two had heated up the crew. And above all Varius, who had already undressed Samuel with glances.

After the salsa the crew had broken out in whistling and cheering and clapping. Patricia could really dance phenomenally well, Samuel noted. Apart from the fact that she looked especially good today. She still smiled at him and Samuel returned the smile, albeit in his own way: never real, but polite. 

"He can fight, he can dance, he is handsome. What more could you want?" Samara laughed. 

Samuel shook his head and looked embarrassed at his sister before he went to her.

"Your performance was just as breathtaking. It was good to see you playing and singing again at last." He said.

The music kept playing and some of the crew started dancing again. Even Keni dared to hit the dance floor this time. Samuel returned to the bar and took a sip of the rather light and refreshing salarian beer, watching Keni dance, when Trox came up to him and patted him on the back so that he almost spilled the sip. 

"Boy, you just got it." Laughed the krogan.  
"Oh, don‘t exaggerate." He replied with a smile.  
"Ha, who‘s the one who exaggerates, taking out a gargantuan ancient eiroch alone?“  
„Alone? Nonsens. I never would have made it without your help, the support of my squad.“  
„Always so humble.“ Trox grinned. „However, I meant more than that." Trox grinned broader when Samuel raised one eyebrow.  
"Potter's got the hots for you. That's why she dressed up like that, kchch." Teekoy interfered.  
"Granted, she looks really great today, too." Samuel murmured and took another sip from his glass.  
"I helped her. She looks pretty good, huh?" Now Samara stood next to her brother.

He glanced at her for a moment, blinked and thought about the answer that was now appropriate. Varius helped him out. More or less.

"Pretty much, yes. But still no competition." He winked at Samuel blatantly. Samuel blushed slightly and changed the subject - very badly.  
"Trox, I hear krogans can dance well too."  
Trox looked at him deadly serious: "Would you care to dance with me?" He asked hollowly.  
Samuel looked back and hesitated in obvious embarassment. Trox burst out laughing.  
"Don't look like that, boy. I'm just kidding."  
Samuel blinked at the krogan.  
"Oh, come on, Commander! You're as serious as Thantos. He never laughs either, and when he does, it's a rarity, kchch." Added Teekoy and got a critical look from Thantos, who was sitting nearby on a bar stool. Samuel looked at Thantos and had to smile.

"Yes, we take life very serious." He said and was gently boxed in the side by Teekoy.  
"But not tonight, kchch!"  
"That's right, tonight you two have fun." Trox said.  
Varius leaned his back against the counter next to Samuel and put his elbows on the countertop.  
"I agree." He said and smiled at him before lifting his glass. Samuel toasted with him.

"Mr. Savallian, you better get on your feet!" 

Said Jennifer Sola, suddenly pulling the drell from his stool. Jennifer Sola was a beautiful woman, originally from the Caribbean, about 5'7" tall, had thick black curly hair, tanned skin and a strong, well-built figure. She was the medical assistant of Dr. Ven'Tisa. And when she got angry, even Trox would pull away. But she only got angry when crew members were injured or got into trouble or both, when this was something that could have been avoided. In other words, she was angry at Samuel, her commander, almost all the time. But she appreciated that he was so dedicated to his crew. She had a crush on Thantos. But he had no interest in her. However he let her drag him to the dance floor to dance. Alcohol could have been the reason. Nevertheless he gave Samuel a look in search of help. Samuel had to surpress a laugh. He quietly snorted into his cup and hid his grin in it. Varius watched Samuel, but then looked at the crew members on the dance floor. Jake had asked Dr. Ven'Tisa, Samara and Caliria moved to the rhythm and cheered when Teekoy jumped and hopped around between them, dancing with Patricia. Even the Watts twins were dancing. Trox, Tiran, Varius and Samuel watched and drank from their cups every now and then. 

At some point then a tango was played. Thantos immediately took flight before the dance with Jennifer Sola. Deen and Cheen went to the bar and poured themselves a drink. Caliria and Samara however dared a duet. 

"Wow, hey, these two are really good." Samuel admitted and smiled appreciatively.  
Varius looked at his commander and suddenly took the cup from his hand. Surprised, Samuel looked at him.  
"We can do better." The turian grinned and grabbed the elf by the wrist before he dragged him towards the dance floor.  
"What – but…!"  
"I lead." He smiled.  
"What? No, wait, no! I – I don‘t know the other steps. Varius!" Samuel hissed softly.

The turian dragged him on and finally stopped before putting an arm around Samuel's waist. Samuel looked up at him and shook his head, yet smiling at the bold grin. Very well. The rhythm started and they began to dance. Samuel had difficulties in the beginning because he only knew the leading steps.

"You learn this on the side, as talented as you are. Just give me your full attention." Varius whispered to him.  
„You wish!“ Samuel mumbled.

It was unusual for him dancing in the way usually the female part did, like leaning back and snuggling up tightly with one leg against her dancing partner. But in fact, after a short time he succeeded in coordinating, they were getting involved with each other and moving to the rhythm of _"Tango Santa Maria"_. Samara and Caliria looked at the two of them from time to time and grinned before continuing to dance. The two couples duelled to the hot Spanish dance. Again and again one could hear delighted or amused murmuring of the others, when particularly daring steps and movements were made. Samuel knew that Samara could dance. Caliria and Varius in particular however was new to him. Varius moved perfectly to the music. Gods, this turian could dance! Samuel was impressed. Also Samara and Caliria moved as if they had always danced together. Samara let herself be led and Caliria led. Samuel watched them for a few seconds before Varius touched him briefly on the jaw and turned his face towards him. 

Patricia responded with an unmistakable "Whoooo...".  
Varius smiled crookedly and whispered to him: "This is where the music is, Commander.“  
„Don‘ push it.“ Samuel warned him. That turian sometimes was really bold.

Varius obviously enjoyed dancing with the Commander and Samuel also liked it quite a bit. It was somehow strange, but still amusing. Varius took a deep step as the music drew to a close and made Samuel lie down in his arm. Samara did the same in almost the same moment. It looked as if both couples had rehearsed it. Wild applause swelled and filled the deck.

"WHAT a show, whoa! You should perform." Teekoy cheered and got approval.

The four of them left the dance floor, which filled up again with the other crew members. Samuel leaned against the counter and Varius did the same.

"Wow, I didn't know you could dance. Where and when did you learn it?" He said, a little out of breath.  
"It's been a while. I guess I have a talent. And wanted to get rid of some rust." Varius replied gleefully.  
„Well, yes, have to admit, you are one hell of a dancer.“ He said.  
Varius smiled: „thanks, you too.“

Samuel took a sip from his cup - the last one, he noted. So he put his head back and emptied his cup. Varius watched him while he drank from his cup. 

"But Caliria really has it going on.“ Samuel said.  
„Yeah, she‘s a natural like you and your sister.“  
„Uh, no, we used to dance in our childhood from time to time. However I get the impressions turians are born masters of movement.“ Samuel pondered.  
Varius slightly chuckled and leaned over to him. He whispered into his ear: "I master even more things very well.“

Samuel turned his head and wanted to reply, but to his surprise he noticed Varius had come so close they were only millimeters apart. The turian looked deeply into the commander's eyes for a few seconds. Samuel swallowed and cleared his throat quietly, ran his hand through his white hair while the elbow of his arm leaned on the counter. 

"Uhm, I believe you." He muttered and avoided Varius' gaze.

Varius‘ smile was amused, of course. It was sweet when his commander was embarrassed. And he just loved to rattle him. He had been playing with him like this for years and felt his way around. On the Phoenix, it was known that Varius liked the commander very much, even though Varius claimed to have a primarily physical interest in him. But maybe there had been a slight infatuation in the meantime. Of course, one speculated, and every time the two sat together, there was whispering and speculation. This was one of the favorite activities of those crew members who liked to chat or spy anyway. Especially of Samara, Patricia, Teekoy, Jake and now and then Caliria. The rest either stayed out of it or was not interested. Samara and Patricia were very curious people. Of course they watched the two from a sofa.

"Varius doesn't miss any opportunity to flirt with your brother, huh?" 

Patricia said with a grin. Actually, she also liked Commander Wolfsbane very much. But for some reason she gave way to Varius. Samara sipped her drink and shook her head. 

"I don't know what to think of this. Yeah, I can understand why Varius has a crush on him since Sam helped him against those bullies during their APEX training years ago and I‘m quite sure it‘s impressing watching him fight and so. But my brother is much too serious and tense anyway."  
"That's why he needs someone like Varius to loosen him up. I‘m quite sure a turian‘s _equipment_ could help." Patricia said it dryly and almost made the emissary choke. She just smiled and watched those two. 

"Boy! Now you can't escape me anymore. Here, let's drink your wonderful gift." 

Trox suddenly stood beside Samuel and put the big bottle of krogan brandy "Ryncol" on the counter. He did not ask for permission but poured it into the empty cup of his commander. It smelled strong and probably tasted even stronger. Teekoy came in and looked up. 

"Var, not a good idea for you to drink that. That stuff will probably kill you." Trox said as he looked at the volus. 

He took his cup and waited for Samuel to take his. He hesitated. Ryncol was strong. Damn strong. Extremely strong. Humans could drink it, but many were simply knocked out. Ah, whatever. Samuel took the cup and the krogan cheered. Yep. It definitely would so blow his mind. 

"To you, Commander!"  
"And to you, Trox. May you grow older and stronger and wiser." Samuel replied, muttering to himself: "Kalahira hold me tight. I'm so going to regret this."

They saluted to each other. Trox tipped the liquor and growled with relish: "aaah." Samuel also tipped the liquor. Then he began to cough, shook his head and at the same moment had the feeling Trox had hit him with his war hammer. He could hear someone crying out in surprise then passed out completely.

An echoing laughter came to his ear. He slowly woke up. Varius held him in his arms. He sat on the floor and was completely dazed. Samara, Dr. Ven'Tisa and Jennifer Sola stood around him.

"Whew. Did anyone memorize the number of the Dreadnought that ran over me?" he mumbled. His lips and tongue felt leaden.  
Trox still laughed: "Boy, I knew you could do a lot of things, but that you really do overturn the pure Ryncol - well done!“  
Samuel looked up at the women, whose faces had all the same expression: annoyance.  
"You're crazy to drink pure Ryncol!" 

Scolded Dr. Ven'Tisa. Jennifer and Samara agreed with her and joined in the whining. Samuel snorted. "Oh, that wasn't so bad! I'm still alive." He grinned and looked at Trox. "But I won't survive another one." The krogan kept laughing.

With a little effort and Varius' support, Samuel made it back on his feet. He broke away from him and swayed, but recovered. Okay, so that's that: drink krogan brandy and don't go into a coma. He had enough from comas anyway. Thantos came up to him and looked at him. 

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.  
Samuel nodded. "Yes, I'm okay. I think so."  
The drell shook his head and smiled. "Freak."  
"Your freak, _ma paratan_." Sighed Samuel and fell around Thantos' neck before he snuggled up to him.  
Thantos first blinked in bewilderment, but then put his arms around Samuel. He even closed his eyes and sighed softly.

Samara's face, which had looked very gloomy until just now, gained a friendlier touch, then she chuckled in delight. She preferred her brother to cuddle with his soul brother more as with the turian. She liked Varius Talorian. But she was afraid that the rigger would always be able to persuade the commander to do something stupid and thus at least distract him or even put him into danger. Thantos was worlds more reasonable. And had Samuel much better under control. 

Samuel finally tried to come to his senses – without great success - and shook his head before he broke away from Thantos with a quiet apology.

„I‘m sorry. But... yeah, you know how much I love you.“  
„Yeah, I know, I know.“ Thantos replied quite amused.  
Samuel shook his head, covering half of his face with one hand while closing his eyes.  
„Gods, am I drunk. Sorry. Ryncol..never again.“  
„Yes, you are. Very. But I love you nontheless.“ The drell even giggled. 

It was very, very rare seeing him grinning or even giggling. Actually only Samuel could make him react like that.

Slow music was played and made Jake Goodwin dim the lights in the room. He walked towards Samara and asked her to dance. She looked at him and giggled softly before agreeing. Jake ushered her to the dance floor, which was lit up, while darkness surrounded the floor, except for a few softly glowing lights. Jake even bowed gallantly, causing a delighted, amused murmur from Patricia and Jennifer. They started to dance slowly. Samara looked stunning in her black dress with the open red hair. Jake had also dressed up. They were a beautiful couple. Samuel sat down on one of the sofas next to Teekoy Var and the Watts twins and leaned back. He put his head on one hand and watched the dancers. By the gods, this atmosphere made him depressed, he soon realized. He tried to concentrate on something more serious and opened the display of his omnitool. Some messages had arrived on his private terminal. APEX missions, which were advertised for all teams. He checked them when suddenly someone sat down next to him and cheekily deactivated the display. Puzzled, he looked up and looked at Varius.

"You're really hard to dissuade from not wanting to have fun, huh?" He said.  
Samuel shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so."

He still felt dazed. Too dazed, because when Varius put one arm behind him on the sofa and his claw wrapped around his shoulder, Samuel leaned against him and looked at Jake and Samara again. They moved to the beat and looked each other in the eyes. Samara smiled at Jake and he returned her smile. Quiet amused laughter erupted when suddenly Teekoy slipped off the sofa, grabbed Tiran Suvay by a tentacle and moved onto the dance floor. That was unexpected!

The hanar was so confused that he let Teekoy pull him onto the dance floor like a helium balloon. Teekoy grabbed two of the six tentacles and began to move slowly as well. Tiran was still confused and just let himself be pulled along. The confusion in the hanar triggered a pretty play of lights in the jelly-like body. Looked quite pretty actually. Samara and Jake giggled, but continued to dance unperturbed. Suddenly, Dr. Ven'Tisa stood up and pulled a no less stunned and then discreetly protesting Trox to the dance floor. There was applause as the krogan gave in and began to dance with the Asari, somewhat awkwardly and with the expression of a bullfrog who had been up all night. Samuel had separated himself a little from Varius and watched the three couples. Without noticing he sighed softly and his face became absent. His mind was heavy. Why, why did he have to think of Professor de Kanos? Those eyes that had captivated him. That deep, soothing voice. This strange atmosphere when they were together. He somehow wished Saraan was here now. Why? Varius noticed how melancholy seized his commander. He had some clue why.

"Hey." he whispered to Samuel. The elf looked at him questioningly.

Varius examined his face, which seemed even more sensual in the dim light. That‘s why he simply had to do it. Taking advantage of the darkness, he put a claw under Samuel's chin, bent down to him and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. Turian lips were not that soft. But Samuel already knew that Varius was a good kisser. He was so surprised he let the kiss happen. But then he loosened up and murmured softly.

"Knock it off, Varius."  
Varius smiled. "Afraid you might like it?"  
"I...am drunk. And not sane anymore."  
"So much the better. Then you can blame everything you do tonight on the alcohol."  
Samuel pulled in his black eyebrows: "very funny." He sighed. "Not going to do anything tonight but sleeping. I think I'm... I‘m trying to concentrate on getting sober."  
"And I think...it would be good not to let you think at all." Varius grinned and leaned even closer to him. 

"You need relaxation. I can give it to you, believe me." He whispered to him.  
"I don't think it will come to that." Samuel murmured softly. But it sounded unconvinced.  
" _Coming_ is an excellent term for what I have in mind." Breathed Varius into the elf's ear.

Samuel closed his eyes as he heard the soft turian voice in his ear. He got goose bumps. Gods, Varius was one hell of a flirty predator. And he was just very drunk. Yeah, probably more that. He was really, really drunk. He opened his eyes again and looked at the door leading out to the corridors of the ship. Then he sighed.

„Gotta go out of here.“  
„Nice idea.“ Varius said.

He smiled and stood up before he simply dragged Samuel with him. Samuel rose a little uncertainly. He followed Varius, who without further ado led him out of the observation deck. Caliria and Jennifer were just about to leave as well. So the general mood was used to disappear. Samuel let his rigger lead him through the ship towards the techlab. Varius used to sleep there most of the time and had set up a bed accordingly. Tonight he would definitely share it with someone. 

It did not take long before they arrived at the lab. Samuel hesitated to follow.

„Varius I…. I don‘t think...“

Varius pulled him into the room and Samuel stumbled after him. The rigger locked the door behind them and pulled the white-haired man to himself. He put his claws on Samuel's taille and looked at him.

"Do not be afraid. I will not eat you up. Not like this." He spoke softly and ran his claws over the taille and lower back of the commander who still was insecure.

The relocation had not caused the alcohol to lose power. On the contrary. Samuel placed his arms above the tank around the neck of the turian, who smiled contentedly. He leaned towards him and began to kiss him again. Thanks to his relationship with a human he had learned how they kissed. And he liked it quite well. Samuel again had to admit Varius was a good kisser. It was arousing. Varius knew damn well how to act. Soon he loosened his claws and started to free Samuel from his clothes. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it down. He did the same with the leg clothes. Samuel, not really knowing why he was doing all this, undressed Varius as far as possible. In the end they were only wearing underwear. And Samuel slowly started to forget about Saraan. At least for this night.

Varius pulled him bit by bit to the bed and turned him around. As soon as Samuel felt the bed against his calves, Varius gave him a gentle push on his shoulders, so he fell onto the bed. The turian looked at him and smiled. A demanding expression glowed in his eyes. Samuel slid up a bit and Varius climbed onto the bed. He watched him. The way he moved, he looked like a big cat. His eyes glowed in the semi-darkness of the sparsely lit room. Varius put his claws on the mattress to the right and left of Samuel's head and bent down to him. His tongue ran across the elf's jaws. 

"Heard that turians have a very long tongue." He said and heard Varius laugh softly, which, admittedly, sounded very attractive.  
"Ooh yeah. We have that." Close to his ear he whispered: "and we can use it very, very multifunctional."

Samuel could feel the sharp, pointy teeth beginning to nibble carefully at his neck.  
„But….be careful. My... body‘s compltetely different from yours, you know.“ Samuel whispered.  
„I know. Don‘t worry. I won‘t hurt you.“

Varius really seemed to know how to touch a human body. It was said that sex between humans and turians could be very dangerous due to various reasons. Not only because of the different body shapes but also because of the claws and the the carapace-like skin of turians, which even contained metal. Last but not least, many physicians advised against ingesting turian ejaculate, as some species were very sensitive to it. In humans it was different. Elves fortunately seemed to have the least problems with it.

Samuel closed his eyes and stretched his neck. There was a thick cloud of intoxication in his head. He was not even sure if this was real. Maybe it was just a crazy, erotic dream after all? Yeah, maybe. Anyway, it felt good. Too good. Soon his hands were running over the turian's strange body. He had never seen a turian naked before or even touched. 

„You feel so strange. Can you even feel when I touch you?“ He asked.  
„Not everywhere, unfortunately, because of the natural armour and the metal. But I definitely have parts of my body that are very sensitive.“ Varius answered. „Anyway... you feel fantastic.“

Varius grabbed his chin with a claw and gave him a more passionate kiss. He growled softly. His other claw gently scratched across Samuel's naked torso, down deeper and finally stroked over the bulge in Samuels underwear. Samuel moaned softly and returned the kiss. Gods, this was just insane. He should stop this right now. But he couldn‘t. Varius made him already crave for more. He felt himself becoming horny. 

Varius released him from the kiss and looked at his elvish crush as he lay underneath him. Damn, he could not quite believe that this really happened. He had fantasies about this for such a long time. He wanted him so badly. 

"You have always...been irresistible to me, Commander. I so want you." He whispered. 

Then he kissed slowly down over Samuel's body. When Varius had finally reached his most intimate place, he didn't hesitate for long and pulled the underwear from his hips to demonstrate to the attractive elf what a long turian tongue was capable of. With great pleasure he heard the soft moans of his commander as he began to stimulate him with his tongue and horn lips. Moaning, Samuel bit his lower lip and began to writhe in bed. Fuck, that felt incredibly good. 

The alcohol in his body helped to make his blood getting hotter and his body began to glow. He gasped and groaned lustfully as Varius moved his head up and down, Samuel's hard erection locked in a claw, pushing him further and further. Then the free claw moved to Samuel's entrance and began to penetrate him, very carefully. 

„W-wait...I...I have never been bottom…!“ Samuel gasped, making Varius interrupt his doing.  
„Then this‘ll give you a new kind of pleasure. Don‘t be afraid. Let me show you.“ He answered.

Varius knew that humans were much more sensitive than turians. And he knew that human men possessed a point that catapulted the mind to a great distance when stimulated. Turians also had this point. He definitely wanted to drive his commander out of his mind tonight. Samuel didn‘t feel really comfortable in the beginning. 

„I...I don‘t think….aahh!“ The lips of the commander lost an excited groan.  
„Mmh, I think yes.“ Varius purred.

The passionate moans and movements of the slender body told him that he had found the point. Varius immediately set about driving the elf mad, stimulating his prostate, preparing him for what was to coming next.

Shortly before the climax Varius suddenly let go of him, which made Samuel growl in agony. Varius broke away from him and crawled up to him. Samuel lay there trembling and looked at the turian. Hot lust and desire burned in his diamond-colored eyes. Varius was intoxicated by the sight. He did not want to wait any longer and pushed himself between Samuel's legs. He was so aroused.

"My tongue is not the only thing that can give you pleasure." He breathed rough in Samuel's ear before kissing him passionately again. 

Samuel returned the kiss willingly. Varius growled contently. He would let his commander feel that not only turian tongues were long and strong. He positioned himself at the anus of the other man before he began to penetrate him shortly afterwards. Hot tightness surrounded him. It was overwhelming. So much so that he released the kiss and laid his head groaning in the neck. Samuel also moaned and gritted his teeth. His body started to clench. He couldn‘t relax at all first.

„S-stop...it….doesn‘t feel good…!“ He faintly whimpered.  
"Relax. It will feel ..better in a moment. You‘re... gonna like it. I promise." Gasped Varius.

When he had pushed himself completely into Samuel, he paused for a few moments so that the elf could get used to it. He covered Samuel's neck and throat with gentle bites and kisses. The man under him was burning with heat. A thin film of moisture had formed on his skin and a feverish expression on his face made him look even more sensual. Varius, his claws resting again next to Samuel, watched him for a few seconds. Then he began to move his hips and thrust into Samuel, very slowly and carefully at first. After a few minutes the elf began to relax and the slightly painful sounds became aroused.

„There you go. You're starting to like it.“ Varius smiled.

Soon lustrous moans filled the semi-dark room, which was filled with eroticism. Varius soon accelerated his thrusts and became more passionate. He watched his commander burning in lust. Samuel had closed his eyes and lay moaning under the rigger. It did not hurt anymore. On the contrary, damn it. It felt really good. Varius always irritated the hottest point inside him so much that he only felt pleasure. 

„Does it feel good?“ Varius asked panting.  
„Y-yes….it...feels good.“ Samuel answered gasping. 

Drops of precum glittered on his penis. He wanted to cum. But the turian did not want to let the lustful game end so quickly. He took his time and soon slowed down his strokes, even though he himself felt blazing lust and wanted to release it. He wanted to stall Samuel a little longer and enjoy feeling him, being so close to him. This moment was unique. His elven crush lay under him and enjoyed the treatment. He had taken possession of him. He belonged entirely to him in these moments!

Damn, usually all he wanted was the fast, hot sex with someone. But this time it was different. Varius made the mistake of listening within himself and heard a voice whispering to him, as he did on Elaaden, that he had deeper and deeper feelings for the commander. That was fatal. Samuel felt Varius subjecting him to a bittersweet torture by not moving any further or just so slowly that his body did not reach the desired climax.

"Ah...V-Varius...stop stalling me...!" He moaned. 

Varius was filled with a shudder when he heard the lust filled, begging voice of his commander pronounce these words. How he pronounced his name. Varius growled full of desire. He pushed him hard once and made him moan again. Then he bent down to him and licked his lips. 

"Beg for it." He whispered darkly into Samuel's pointed ear.

 _By the gods, that wicked bastard_ , Samuel thought. But somehow he enjoyed what he did to him. Yet he could hardly stand it any longer. Varius moved as agonizingly slow as he could bear it himself and smiled excitedly. Samuel gasped, his wet shimmering body trembling with lust. He pushed into him again and took his time. He repeated this several times. It was incredibly exciting.

"Ah...f-fuck. Please...let me cum, please..." Samuel finally whimpered with hot lips.  
"Oh, Commander ..." gasped Varius.

He couldn't hold back any longer. He growled again, bent over to the elf and reached into his white hair, pinching him between himself and the mattress. He forced his mouth open and kissed him fervently, while he pushed hard and deep into him. Samuel groaned and pressed himself against Varius' abdomen, which hammered against his buttocks. This time Varius did not stop and pushed them both to climax. Samuel was finally seized by a numbing wave of lust and he felt Varius reach his climax almost at the same moment. He groaned and trembled at the ecstasy that washed his mind away as he ejaculated on his abdomen. Varius also came hard deep inside the pulsating, glowing interior of his commander and groaned.

Panting, Samuel let himself fall back into the pillows a few indescribable moments later and closed his eyes as the afterglow lay over him like a leaden heavy blanket. The alcohol clouded his senses and drew exhausting weariness with it. Varius sank down on him, panting just as much and lingering for several long moments. He could feel the accelerated heartbeat of the other man. Damn, he felt so fantastic. Slowly, he withdrew from him, but stayed close to him.

"I will not let you go tonight. You belong to me." He whispered into Samuel's ear after they had lay still for a few minutes.

He ran his claw over the wet body of the elf and felt the sperm on his abdomen. He still wanted him. Ryncol brandy or not, he would definitely make him come several more times. Samuel felt weak, but his lust was still there. Varius next to him sat up, grabbed Samuel by the upper arms and pulled him with him as he lay on his back. Samuel followed the movement and finally sat on Varius' stomach, which looked up at him. Samuel returned his gaze. This white-haired man, his face, his eyes, his lips, everything. He was so attractive. And so was his character. Varius was briefly lost in thought again.

"I have seen that you can ride a rylkor. Let's see how well you can ride a turian."

Samuel looked at him and narrowed his eyes slightly, but he smiled weakly.

"Normally, I don't ride anything or anyone." He replied.  
"Mmm, yes. But this night is different." Said Varius.  
„I...think I‘ve had enough.“ Samuel whispered.

„Really?“ Varius asked amused.

He reached into Samuel's neck and pulled him gently but firmly toward him. Seems, he had to motivate the commander a little, as usual. His long blue tongue stroked his sensual lips and demanded admission. Samuel granted it, however with a silent complaining sound. This rebelliousness made Varius murmur softly. 

„Still a little stubborn.“ He whispered closed to Samuels lips and smiled.

With one claw he held the elf in his neck. His other went over his back, along his thigh, to his buttocks, and finally to his own hard penis, which he led to the other's anus. This time it was easier to penetrate him, but no less exciting. Samuel groaned, but tensed up slightly. This position was also completely unfamiliar. He wanted to break free, but couldn't and not only because of Varius' grip. He somehow didn't want to either. Varius did not take much time, however, and began to thrust into Samuel several times before he let go of his neck.

"Insatiable, eh?" Samuel gasped.  
"With you? Of course." replied Varius and clawed gently into the elf's thighs. "Please... ride me!" He whispered.

Samuel put his hands on the turian's chest and began to move his hips. He closed his eyes and gave a soft sigh. Varius watched him full of pleasure. The initially slow movements became faster and Varius began to push into Samuel again, while he grabbed Samuel's penis with one claw and began to massage it. Samuel moaned and put his head back while he continued to move. Varius absorbed every single moment while he moved his hips. It was like a dream. Finally he had the commander in his bed and heard his lustful voice. 

Some sweet hours of that night he gave him all a turian, who was familiar with human sex, could give until Samuel finally fell asleep next to Varius. He watched him dreamily for a few long, silent minutes. Sighing until he turned on his back and stared at the ceiling. 

"Shit." He murmured. 

He was well on his way to falling head over heels in love with his commander. No, he already was in love. Well, maybe it was just the alcohol intoxication? Whatever, he wouldn't stand a chance anyway, because his commander was interested in this angaran guy. Tomorrow, the world would be back to normal for the most part. Definitely. Hopefully. Varius finally fell into a deep sleep as well.

_Two cat eyes, blue like sapphires, looked at him. Pierced him. Condemning the look of those eyes. Anger, pain and revulsion were reflected_

_"You let them die. Innocent children." Pain resonated in the deep, soft voice.  
"Murderer!" The echo sounded. Sometimes it got quieter, sometimes louder._

_The darkness around him was replaced by a reddish glow. Fire suddenly flickered across the black, wet shimmering ground. It began to rain, but the fire was not extinguished. He could look at his hands. That was no rain. His hands were full of blood! He cried out, but his vocal cords failed to work. Nevertheless, he could hear himself calling._

_"Saraan! I am sorry. Please, forgive me. Saraan, Saraan!"_

_He saw himself running. The fire was burning everywhere. This whole world seemed to insist on nothing but blood and flames. He ran, running desperately towards the disappearing angara. The fire burned him. He saw Saraan cry out._

_"No, Saraan!"_

_Suddenly a huge firecracker burst out of the ground in front of him and raced straight at him. A deafening hiss. He screamed._

Samuel sat upright in bed. He was panting heavily and trembling. A reddish glow emanated from a small lamp at the other end of the room. All around the corner and on the walls he could see cables, tools and constructs of drones, which looked like monsters in the shadows, trying to reach for him with their claws. There was a faint smell of sweat, metal and alcohol. At first he had no idea where he was. Meanwhile the Ryncol had developed its anaesthetic effect and made him hallucinate. Something was moving next to him, but he hardly noticed it. Varius opened his eyes and looked sleepily at the elf.

"Mh. Commander?" he whispered softly.  
"I...must...must...go to Saraan. I must...tell him that I...I wanted...I didn't know that, I...!" Samuel stammered hoarsely and made noises about climbing out of bed.

Varius felt something cramping inside him when he heard the name of the anagara. He immediately reached for the elf and stopped him from getting out of bed.

"Hey, take it easy. You are hallucinating. Go back to sleep." He whispered and tried to pull him towards him.

Samuel resisted, but was far too weak and tired to offer any great resistance.

"B-but I..." He probably didn't even really realize what he was doing or what was happening.  
"Sshh. Come here." Whispered Varius. 

He felt Samuel shiver and pulled him into his arms with gentle force. He would not let him go anywhere now. Even if he had been sober, he would not have let him out of his arms now. Samuel let himself be pulled against the armored body of the turian and breathed out tremblingly. Varius pulled him tight and sighed. 

"Stay with me." He whispered to him. "All is well." 

Gently he began to caress his chest and belly. At some point he noticed how his commander's breath went deep and regular again. He had fallen asleep again. Varius snuggled closely to the elf and closed his eyes. Although he was still drunk from sleep and alcohol, he felt this familiar tingling inside of him that he had not felt so intensely for a long time. And at the same time there was this silent despair, because he knew that these feelings would not bring him happiness. When his thoughts began to circle, sleep was no longer really on his mind. Hours later Samuel finally woke up again. Varius had just managed to doze for half an hour, when he noticed movements and felt someone coming away from him.

Samuel crawled out of bed and began to collect his clothes, which were scattered on the floor. He was terribly thirsty and vowed never, never to touch alcohol again. Or at least no Ryncol. He assumed that Varius was still asleep and wanted to quietly leave the techlab. But then he heard the silent voice of the rigger.

"Well, chipper again?"  
"More or less." Samuel replied quietly. 

He hesitated. Then he turned and looked at Varius, who sat up. Varius returned his gaze and smiled crookedly. 

"It was a really hot night." He said.  
Samuel snorted. Suddenly, he felt anger coming up inside him. He tried to swallow it down.  
"How...how could you take such shameless advantage of that?" He growled softly.

Varius looked at him calmly and climbed out of bed as well, to get up slowly: "that the most sexiest guy on this ship was drunk and so open to my seductions? How should I have resisted? Or much more: _why?_ "

Samuel narrowed his eyes. The diamond colored soul mirrors seemed to light up briefly. 

"Because I am your commander and therefore a person to respect. Refrain from this nonsense in the future or I'll request that you be transferred to another crew." He spoke coldly.

Varius felt as if his commander had stabbed him in the stomach with a red-hot knife. He lost control over himself and his feelings for a short moment. Suddenly he grabbed the elf and pressed him against one of the cold metal walls of the room. Samuel, still exhausted from the night, bounced with a groan against the wall and looked at Varius in consternation.

"How can you keep lying to yourself like this?" Varius hissed. Although he spoke softly, he obviously had trouble controlling himself. "You wanted it just as much as I did, and now you want me to be solely responsible?"  
The surprise disappeared from Samuel's face. "Let me go, sniper. Right now." He said in a warning tone.

Varius stared at him for a few moments. Anger and pain alternated in him every second. Should he tell him what he felt? To confess his feelings to him and thus share his burden? No, that would probably make it much worse. Or should he...? _Oh, fuck it._

"Commander, I.....!" Varius faltered. No, that was a shitty idea. Reluctantly, he let go of Samuel and took a few steps back. He swallowed bitterly. "...I will try in the future to be less intrusive with you." He said hoarsely.  
Samuel looked at the turian. His anger passed and he sighed softly. "I'm sorry for threatening you. …. Varius, you are the best sniper and rigger I. ...ever met. I ... I don't want our relationship to be strained by anything." 

_Our relationship._ Varius smiled bitterly. His sweet commander had no idea what he was saying. No, he really had no idea. And that was probably better. He nodded. 

"Yes, I guess you're right." He looked at him again. "But now I think you should get dressed and go. ...or I'll have a hard time with my promise to hold myself back."

Samuel looked down at himself. They were both still naked. He blushed slightly and quickly set about getting dressed. He was about to get in the shower anyway.

"See you later, Talorian." He finally said goodbye and left the techlab. 

Varius nodded at him. After Samuel had left the room, he dropped onto the bed and buried his face in the pillow. The fabric still smelled of the elf. Already unhappily in love again. Shit. But he had a real talent for it.


	13. Chapter 10: Elaaden Missions

The night with Varius hung on him for quite a while. More than he would admit. Even the nightmares continued to grip him. And so he welcomed every mission all the more that kept him from thinking about nightmares or the angaran professor. The day after Trox's birthday party Samuel had considered going to the museum and looking for Saraan. But he had decided not to do so. He wanted to give the professor the time he needed. Besides: why in the name of the three gods did he only think of such things? He still couldn't really say why he was so upset that Saraan had looked at him like that and left him standing with these words. The evening at Tavetaan was now almost a month ago. The nightmares had haunted him almost every night since then. Why was all this so difficult? Why couldn't he just push the thoughts and feelings aside, as he usually did? He had learned to suppress feelings and keep a clear cool head. When it came to Professor de Kanos, all his exercises seemed to be fruitless, his strength seemed to leave him.

Saraan had demanded to hear the truth, damn it, and he had told him that shitty truth about his last run! Not what he himself had almost done afterwards. But the professor surely wouldn't have been interested in that anyway. He should forget all that. It was a disturbing factor, distracting and therefore bad. Samuel was almost glad to finally be able to go on a mission again. This time it had been announced by Chazre de Tershaav. The „New Order“ had caused trouble on Elaaden and the angaran fighters stationed there had called for support.

Researchers suspected that Elaaden's vault had encouraged mutations. New species of animals and plants had recently appeared. (Among others also this dog-like species, which Keni had mentioned). And a cubic mineral had been discovered on Elaaden, which researchers from the Milky Way, called "Elaaden diamond". It had the same properties as a diamond from the Milky Way and a similar natural hardness. And it was similarly rare. So far it had been found only on Elaaden. According to speculations, the gemstone had either always existed on the planet or it had been created as a result of the influence of the vault. Whatever it was, it was one of the reasons why the "New Order" was now rampaging. And the Phoenix was supposed to travel to one of the hotspots to support the angaran troops.

Chazre had kindly sent the last current nav point. It was located in the northeast mining zone for rare minerals, not far from the Nexus outpost. _Surely the researchers and civilians there had noticed that the "New Order" was up to no good._ Samuel thought, who was just standing in the armory, when he looked at the area via his omnitool. He had no idea how right he was.

"Commander, we're not getting response from the angara, now approaching the LZ _Paradise_.“ Deen Watts, the co-pilot, informed. 

The sandy landscape of Elaaden was now so close that one could see trees and bushes and the landing zone. The Phoenix would wait here at _Paradise_ , a small trading post in the southeastern region in the Paradise Sands, while Samuel and his squad would head north to the rendezvous point. He called three of the crew members into the armory. In short, known as: Triple T. They were Trox, Teekoy and Thantos. Samuel's preferred squad composition when going into unknown and most likely dangerous terrain where at least two or three more daring guys were needed. The krogan, volus and drell were immediately on hand and prepared while Samuel briefed them.

"....On the way we try to make further contact with the angara. However, it is possible that they are deliberately not answering. Jake and Varius, you know what to do as soon as we come into communication range of the angara and probably also of the bandits. Everybody ready?"  
"Yes, commander.“ Did it come from Teekoy and Trox as if from one mouth, while Thantos nodded.

The team drove in the P-Nomad, the ground vehicle of the Phoenix, through the desert sands, into the glistening sun of Elaaden, which, like the day, always ruled and never handed the scepter to the night. Samuel, who was driving, had briefly considered going to the outpost. But he wanted to make sure that the squad of the angara was still alive. The journey was uneventful. Apart from Trox complaining that the commander was driving much too fast as always.

They reached the nav point. Six angaran fighters could be seen at once. They had set up makeshift barriers at the diamond mine, which had been set up in the direction of the mine. Two fighters aimed at the vehicle as it approached. Samuel quickly let them know that they were not enemies. Nevertheless, the team got out 500m before the barrier and continued on foot. The angara were relieved on the one hand, but skeptical that they had received so little reinforcements. The two squad leaders of the respective teams quickly talked to each other. The "New Order" had entrenched itself in the diamond mine. Actually, they would have stormed in long ago and shot them to pieces. However, the Order had taken all the miners and a few civilians, mostly angara, as scourges. Nevertheless, they had tried to attack, which had ended in a wild shootout and had also caused a slight earthquake when a grenade launcher was used. Meanwhile, the Order threatened to blow up the mine, which would probably result in a catastrophic collapse. 

"These guys really don't seem to have anything to lose, kchch." Teekoy said.   
"Usually the most dangerous." Said Trox.

Samuel saw the angara were worn out and didn't know how best to deal with the situation. His gaze wandered on to Thantos. They probably had one and the same thought, as so often. 

"Let's just rush ahead and shoot everything to hell. There's always collateral damage.“ Growled Trox.   
"I know your fatalistic nature, Ghurak, but this is where we try to free the hostages.“ Samuel said, reaping another growl from the krogan. 

The elf pulled his squad together for the meeting and also called in Varius and Jake. They had been given a map and were now able to come to some agreement. 

"Teekoy, for you as a sniper, it's going to be difficult in there unless we make it into that huge underground hall that captain va Zathun mentioned. Otherwise, use short arms." He instructed the sniper. "Trox, you..."  
"- are the diversionary tactics for these megalomaniacal fools who come to meet me."  
Samuel hesitated.   
"Kinda. We try to get in there as inconspicuous as possible."  
"Inconspicuous? Boy, you remember what race I belong to, don't you? Inconspicuous does not exist in the vocabulary of the krogans." Laughed the old warrior. 

Samuel looked at him wordlessly. True enough, krogans were everything, but not subtle. 

"Let‘s just try..." Samuel murmured and continued: "Jake, try to hack the omnitools of the bandits, Varius, you see if you can disable the weapons and especially the explosives. If they have any drones, you know what else to do.“  
"Will do, Commander." Goodwin said during the conference call. 

Samuel looked at Thantos, who looked back. "We proceed as usual." 

And by _as usual_ was meant to be invisible and silent and to finish off the enemies before they even knew what had hit them. 

"With a bit of luck, that might even be enough. Otherwise," he looked around, "you four are the backup.“

With that the plan was discussed. From the angara's point of view, it was by no means not completely thought through, as the leader Jovaal va Zathun also expressed. However, he did not have a great discussion, since it was not his team after all. Besides, he did not know how the alien team was operating. This was characterized by the fact that "Triple T" and Samuel, but especially Thantos with Samuel, was an extremely, one might even say, insanely effective combination. 

Nakmor Trox Ghurak obviously enjoyed fooling and confusing the opponents. After a short hint given to his squad via omnitool, he had dropped into one of the mine arms and started making noise. The Order had reacted promptly and sent people. Teekoy had first walked with the two adepts, then he too had set off and taken another mine arm. He and Trox arrived in the large hall almost simultaneously. The "New Order" was now of the opinion that the angara had brought one krogan and one volus as reinforcements. Ten members were probably the ones who had taken the mine. Trox was able to count ten, and soon he was standing in the impressive, huge hall, glittering with diamonds and full of explosives. The hostages were all in one cage. There were almost only angara except for two salarians among them. 

"One krogan and one volus? Is that all the angara can think of out there?" One could hear the voice of one of the bandits, distorted by the helmet microphone, sneering as he approached the krogan with his gun drawn. 

Trox grinned and showed his fangs. He saw what the other, probably the leader, could not see. Namely, how behind the guy the enemies suddenly collapsed and went down silently. Thantos and Samuel worked their way forward as shadows. They moved almost synchronously. Blazing fast and clean. It looked fascinating and spooky at the same time.

"Ho ho ho, you guys are so fucked." Trox grinned. 

Somewhere in the hall one of the bandits suddenly cried out. The leader turned his head and Trox struck. At that moment, Teekoy went for a second bandit and fired. 

Suddenly a deafening bang shook the underground hall. Dust rose, the bright clang of falling diamonds on stone could be heard. Even more dust surged through the cave. For a few seconds, one could no longer see a hand in front of the eyes. Screams could be heard. Samuel felt himself get dizzy for a moment and staggered. It was immediately clear to him that something must have happened to Thantos. The dust slowly trickled onto the rocky floor. Samuel hectically looked around for his _paratan_ through his helmet. Apparently explosives had been detonated. But they did not seem to have caused too much damage. He saw Trox, who was already involved in close combat again. Teekoy was nowhere to be seen. Thantos, however, could. He lay on the edge of a crater that hadn't existed until just now. " _Shaday._ " Samuel ran off. Jumped over an enemy who had seen him and wanted to attack, as if it was his child's play to jump over an almost upright standing man like a cat. Thantos threatened to slide into the abyss. Samuel could reach him, grab him, drag him back. Then the drell opened his eyes.

"Everything okay, _shaday_?" Samuel asked. Thantos nodded. He was quickly back on his feet. 

Shots were fired. Then another muffled tremor shook the hall. All of a sudden, boiling hot purple liquid shot up from the center of the hole that had been created, up to the ceiling and crashed back into the crater. The drops that did not fall back into the crater burned everything that was not protected. 

"This is a volcano! These morons woke up a fucking volcano!" Roared Trox. 

Samuel's gaze twitched. He had just discovered Teekoy. He fired and shot at four of the enemies who had taken aim at him, retreating further and further into one of the corridors until he was no longer visible. He saw the hostages that had panicked because the ground right in front of their prison had simply broken away and now the lava threatened to burn them as soon as it shot up. Or the cage would soon fall down. Even with the armor he was wearing, Samuel could feel the temperature in the hall rising.

"Boss, we got to get out of here! Kchch." Teekoy shouted into the conference.  
"Could deactivate the last explosives, the main corridor is secure, you have to get out!" Heard Jake. 

Again the ground shook. This time so strong that some lost their footing. One of the bandits fell down into the lava lake with a death cry, which now began to hiss and bubble again.

"Commander!" screamed Thantos. 

Samuel looked to the hostages again. His heart was pounding. What now?! He made his decision. Noone should ever die when he could prevent it.

"Thantos, help Teekoy! Trox, watch my back!". 

There was no discussion. The krogan ran off. He simply rammed one of the opponents out of the way as if he were a wooden figure, and shot another one over the edge. 

"Come on, boy!" He shouted. Samuel ran off. 

He jumped over the precipice to the cage. 

"Help us, please!" Cried a male angara with eyes filled with fear.   
Samuel looked briefly at the mech lock. Coded. The decker had to go for it.  
"Jake! Decode!"

It was taking way too long. The lava shot up. Samuel barely dodged a burning lump thrown into the air. 

"Done!“ Said Jake. 

The mech lock jumped from red to green. The door opened. 

"Come on, out, out! This way!" Samuel said to the hostages. 

They progressed hand over hand along the edge of the hissing abyss. Samuel waited until they were all on the other side. Then he followed. Just in time. Not a moment later the cage fell into the burning depths. The hostages, probably miners and explorers, cried out. Samuel drove them on. In the meantime, even the "New Order" had realized that it had been a stupid idea to detonate explosive charges in an obviously _not_ inactive volcano and sought their salvation by fleeing. They didn't even pay attention anymore whether they were running to the exit with a friend or an enemy. The main hallway had collapsed in parts, but Trox cleared it enough for all to pass.  
They made it. They all made it out. Outside, the bandits were met by the guns of the angara. One was left alive for later interogation. With the rest the fighters were merciless. The libeated hostages fell to the ground, panting and moaning. They were save. Samuel was the last to come out and saw Jovaal va Zathun, the leader of the angara fighters, rushing towards him. 

"Did one of us meet you?" He asked frantically.   
"No?" Samuel replied irritated. 

He looked at his squad. Thantos and Trox shook their heads. 

But Teekoy said, "Kchch, ah, that was one of your men? Thought it was one of those orders-"   
Jovaal va Zathun interupted him. "We could not stop him, he ran into the cave and disappeared. He said if he can't save the artifact, it was all for nothing." 

Samuel looked at the angara with an even more bewildered look. Artifact? All for nothing? The ground shook again. 

Jovaal looked at Samuel again. "He said he was curator of Aya." 

Samuel had the feeling his heart would stop. Under his helmet he turned pale.

"Professor... de Kanos?" He gasped and received confirmation. 

Another slight tremor followed. One of the salarians came to the two leaders. 

"While we were trapped in the cage, I measured the seismic activity. Until before the explosion the mine with the cave was stable. Now it will collapse." 

Samuel stared at the cave entrance. And suddenly felt a big, heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Boy? Bad idea. You **don't** do that." He heard Troxgrowling and Teekoy jumped in right away:   
"Absolutely, that would be really, really stupid! Kchch."  
"By my estimates, there are about 20 minutes left before the entire system collapses." Said the salarian researcher.   
Teekoy nodded. "Great, then let‘s - boss?!"  
"Wolfsbane!!" Roared Trox.

Samuel had run away. He heard his squad yelling after him, but he kept on rushing.

"That wasn't helpful, you stupid salarian moron!" Trox roared at the frightened salarian and grabbed him by the collar. 

Thantos helplessly gazed back at Samuel as Teekoy rushed at him: "Kchchch, damn it, stop him, he's doing something incredibly stupid right now. Savallian!"   
But Thantos just stood there, thunderstruck.   
"There are moments when even I don't have power over him."   
_Especially when his paratan was ruled by his heart and not by his mind. Samuel would not have stopped, even if he had called him kouday,_ Thantos added in thought.

Samuel knew that what he was doing here could kill him. But he did not care. He had to find that foolish professor. How did he actually get here so quickly? Never mind. Samuel ran, ran, jumped, dodged a falling big stone that broke apart on the ground in dust. The passage to the diamond cave had already collapsed, but apparently Professor de Kanos had not been seen there anyway. There was only another, much narrower, path. Samuel turned off and ran on. On the walls of the cave he could see thin, bluish shimmering veins. They lit up strongly as he hurried past them. Some other mineral perhaps. Suddenly, in the middle of the passage, a strange shape appeared in front of him. It looked like a huge dark lichen of glass. He hesitated because it reminded him of a scourge formation. But it was not. It could be easily pushed apart without causing any harm, but it lit up very brightly when he touched it. An image flashed through his mind. No, it was rather a kind of impression. A strange feeling and he paused. For a moment he had the feeling that he was not alone. It was...like a memory? 

Damn it, he couldn't stop himself with something like that! Samuel hurried on. Another tremor. This time it was so heavy that he almost lost his balance and had to lean against the wall, which glowed brightly where he touched it. Immediately he let go again. That was strange. The walk stretched on forever. But thank the gods it was only one. Several bends later, the passage was over. It led into another cave. This one was even more massive than the previous. Despite the danger all around him, Samuel was not able to just keep running. He slowed his pace until he stopped and looked at the enormous beauty of this cave with his mouth open. Diamonds glittered, blue veins stretched through the walls, the ceiling, to now visible patterns. The floor was worked. Stone slabs, artfully carved. Overturned columns. And the aura of this place, it was - it was so familiar? He had been here before, it shot through Samuel's mind. But how could that be? This place had to be many thousands of years old. When he stepped on one of the stone slabs, it lit up faintly. He flinched. No, he had no time for that. He went on. But then he stopped again. It was as if a soft, distant melody penetrated his hearing. Was someone singing? What was that? No, it was not really singing, it was more of an impression. A feeling. What was actually going on here?

The fascination and confusion went out suddenly when he saw someone lying under one of the columns. He ran off. It was Saraan. He had been hit by one of the columns. Luckily, he had probably only got one leg caught and could not free himself. He was unconscious. This cave would have become his grave. Samuel tried to pull him out but did not succeed. Not without his powers. 

"Shit! All right. Hold on, Professor. Arashu, protect us." He spoke through the helmet.

He closed his eyes. Sent a quick prayer to the goddess for motherhood and protection. Then he felt his body reach its peak. He struck the column several times with his gloved fist and smashed it so that he could pull Saraan out. Then he lifted him onto his back, groaning. He was about to rush off when he saw an object on the ground. Saraan must have protected it with his body. So this thing was worth risking his life and running into the volcanic cave? What a madman! Samuel shook his head. He grabbed the object, some kind of cube, and ran off. This time he was fast. Incredibly fast, despite the weight of the great angara on his shoulders. Saraan was a very big, heavy guy. Without his ki powers he would not be able to do this. Samuel knew that he had about ten minutes until his powers faded and that meant here, in this galaxy at the same time: until he passed out. Or worse happened. He now had two powerful forces active. The supernatural speed and power.

The ground beneath his feet shook again. The veins in the cliffs pulsed strongly as he ran past them. He ran through the mesh, which lit up again. Suddenly he stumbled and would have stumbled by a hair. For the large body on his back had begun to move. Saraan had woken up. 

"Hnnn, what…“ He looked at the armed, helmeted man questioningly and dazed.   
"No time to explain, Professor, here!" Said Samuel through the helmet microphone. He administered Saraan some medigel. "Can you walk?". He asked.   
"I think so." Saraan replied and straightened up.   
"Then run!" Samuel said. 

He didn't think long, but grabbed the angara by the hand and rushed off. He had perhaps five minutes left, but he stopped his supernatural speed, because otherwise Saraan could not keep up. They both ran back the corridor. Everywhere there was trembling and thunder. Dust and small rocks trickled from the ceiling. Finally, finally, the main entrance came into sight. Then the floor broke away. 

Samuel managed to stop. He managed to grab Saraan and stop him from falling into the depths. There was still a narrow edge to walk along. 

He looked at the angara. "Go, go!" 

Saraan set about balancing along the yawning abyss. And he made it. On the other side stood the Angaran fighters and Thantos and Trox, waiting. 

Samuel followed. But then the piece broke off as well. He still heard a scream from above as he was already falling into the deep. Boulders falling from the ceiling followed him. He reacted in a quick-witted way and summoned another power, knowing that this could possibly kill him. His body was flooded and he jumped out of the air, onto one rock, onto the next, anyone who came towards him. Higher and higher. He jumped until he saw the bright daylight. Then he made one last massive pike jump. He flew over heads and bodies, tore his arms forward, bounced to the ground, rolled off. Dust and sand swirled up. Then the earth rumbled. The entire cave collapsed under a massive roar.

Seconds of shock after seconds of shock passed. After that it was quiet. Samuel was still standing. Panting, he looked like everyone else towards the place where there had been a mine entrance a moment ago, which was now a collapsed heap. For an eternity, everyone seemed frozen and had to realize that they had all survived. Then cheers broke out. Among the miners and explorers, the angaran fighters and his squad. 

"We made it! Kchch." Teekoy shouted. 

Trox, Thantos, the squad leader and Professor de Kanos approached Samuel. 

"Boy, you are one crazy fool! But you are our crazy fool!" Shouted Trox

Samuel grinned and took off his helmet. He could see Saraan freeze in mid-movement, stop and stare at him. 

"I couldn't let you die in there, Professor." Samuel said calmly. 

All of a sudden he became dizzy. Samuel knew what that meant. 

" _Paratan!_ " Thantos stepped right up to him and looked at him. 

Worry was written all over his face. Samuel could feel fluid running from his nose. He wiped it off with his glove and saw that it was blood. He looked at Thantos.

"Than..tos......"

The deprivation hit him like a frenzy krogan in full swing. Samuel fell to his knees, gurgling and vomited a gush of blood into the sand. He cried out loud in pain and grabbed his head with both hands when he felt as if a threshing maw was tunneling its way through his skull and brain. The pain was unbearable. Saraan rushed to him, sheer horror in his eyes from the bloodcurdling scream. Trox and Teekoy rushed over. Samuel could see from tear-stained eyes how Thantos went down on his knees with his face distorted in pain. Trox grabbed him and let him glide gently to the ground. New pain seized him. He could no longer control himself. He writhed and cried out loudly as the blood ran from his mouth, from his nose, from his eyes.

„ **Graaahhh!** ….Make it stoop!!“ He screamed.

Saran grabbed him and held him tight. Samuel looked up breathing heavily. He cried from pain. He could no longer breathe. He gurgled. Bloody tears ran down his deadly pale cheeks. Then there were only two beautiful, shimmering sapphire cat eyes staring at him in horror. 

"Samuel! Stay with me. Please!" He heard Saaran's voice, fading out.

Blood. pain. Numbness crept up inside him. Then blackness and forgetfulness haunted him. His body went limp.


	14. Chapter 11: Fragility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel is in coma and has several encounters.
> 
> For the mysterious voice scene listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNjrUz1sgxQ

_The symbols on the walls and on the stone slabs lit up when he touched them. He was in this huge hall and looked around. This time he did not feel a tremor. This time the columns were in place. A deep peace emanated from here. Again he heard this melody. It penetrated his hearing, it penetrated him, filled him, embraced him. He knew this melody. Warm white light completely enveloped him. The world around him disappeared in the light until a figure manifested itself in the distance before him. It slowly approached him, spreading its arms. The outlines reminded of an angara. And he seemed to float above the ground. Finally Samuel could make out the face._

"Saraan." He heard himself whisper and shout at the same time. 

He woke up. And startled. For before him was indeed the face of the professor, who looked at him worriedly.

"I am here." He whispered. 

Samuel wanted to raise a hand, but he could not move. Then he felt Saraan's hand caressing his cheek tenderly. 

"Please...don't... leave me." Whispered his lazy lips.  
"I won't go." Replied the angaraan softly.  
"Saraan, I....need.....need you....." Did he really speak? Did he only think? Was he dreaming?

The deep blue eyes, more beautiful than any sapphire on earth, burned into his mind before Samuel was again taken over by silent night.

A dreamless time from a length of which he could not determine, passed. When he woke up the next time, it was not Saraan sitting at his bed, but Varius. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked up when Samuel looked at him.

"Commander...!" Gasped Varius. He too looked surprised. And relieved.

He released his arms from the entanglement and bowed to Samuel. His clawed hands lay carefully against the pale face of the elf. Was perhaps this too only a dream? He leaned even closer to him and felt the horny lips of the turian on his own. It was an infinitely gentle, tender kiss. He would not have believed that a turian could kiss so tenderly.

„P...please...don‘t…!“ Samuel whispered. Was he even saying something? Or was it just a thought? This kind of endearment was flooding him.

So unreal. It had to be a dream. Varius leaned his forehead against the Samuels and closed his eyes. One of the claws wrapped around his hand. Samuel could close his hand. He had no more strength. Varius pulled the elf's hand gently against his mandible, put the other claw on the elf's hand and nestled his own head in the palm of Samuels hand.

"Please, get well again, my stubborn crazy commander. The crew needs you. I need you ..." He whispered.

Samuel felt leaden tiredness embrace him again. How a heavy cloak of darkness enveloped and pulled him along. In the darkness, in the distance he could hear a voice. But he did not know who it belonged to. Or whether it was male or female. But he could understand its words:

_"I love you!"_

Sleep. Silence. Night and oblivion. No dream this time. A dull pain made his body aware that he was still alive and should return to reality. Samuel slowly opened his eyes. White blanket. Gloomy light. Barely perceptible sounds from somewhere. A soft, constant beeping near him. Cold. Thirsty. Pain. Something was around his left arm. He could turn his head. An injection. A tube led away from it, to a bag of clear liquid. 

He could feel no movement around him. He was alone. When he moved his head, he felt as if someone was holding him down. It was hard to move his head. By the three gods. He hardly had the strength to move his head. It took him a long time to succeed. Until he could gradually move his hands, his arms and legs, too. In the meantime, he also knew where he was. It was the same hospital room in which he had been lying at the time, after he had collapsed. He had saved Samara and the consul. But this time he was lying here because of another event. Now he slowly remembered. The cave at Elaaden. The collapse. And Saraan. He had run back into that cave. Found him. Had used his powers to save him. He had called for more ki power than was good. That's how he had saved the professor. He had jumped up the falling boulders, jumped over the totally irritated angara, salarians and his crew. And then he had collapsed outside. He had vomited blood and was in terrible pain. But he seemed to be still alive.

Samuel raised one arm to run over his face. There was a slight jerk. Something came loose. Something near him started beeping quickly. A few moments later, the door of the sickroom opened and a female angaran doctor he knew entered the room. 

"Thank the stars, you are alive. And you are awake. I honestly did not expect either of them." He heard her speak. 

Her voice sounded strange. Or maybe it was his head. His confusion. 

"Pleased... to... to see you, doctor." He muttered, realizing how rough his voice was. Hoarse even.

Dr. ja Varuhn smiled slightly ironically. "Let's see if you are happy to see **her** , too." 

Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa entered the room. She looked as if she was about to give him the lecture of a lifetime. She could do that and when she did, even Trox knuckled under her. At least he pretended to. 

"Yoouuu...." She began. 

Samuel looked at Dr. ja Varuhn: "please stay.... she‘s evil. She will... kill me or else.". 

Dr. Ven'Tisa narrowed her eyes as she approached the bed. "Barely able to speak, but again, stupid sayings were being spoken. If you ever make such nonsense again - I warn you! You are grounded for the next few weeks. You will only move when there are needs. You will take your medication as directed." She put three different doses on the table. "These are three times a day." 

Samuel pulled a face. "I will personally supervise that you take these and that you do not overexert yourself.“ She continued.  
"And my duties as...“  
Dr. Ven'Tisa took the words out of his mouth: "Captain, Protector and Commander? Rest for now. Mr. Savallian will assume your duties until further notice. You almost died, Commander Wolfsbane. Under no circumstances should you even think about using your ki powers in the next weeks or months, otherwise you will really die!

Dr. Ven'Tisa actually lectured him for about 20 minutes about how he would never again use his powers so thoughtlessly. Samuel didn't even try to argue with her, but put up with it. He was too weak for that anyway. 

In the end, she at least said in a much more soulful tone: "I am really glad that you are alive and on the road to recovery.

After the medical officer, about a quarter of an hour later Samara entered the infirmary together with Teekoy, Trox, Varius and Thantos. Dr. ja Varuhn was not at all pleased to have so many visitors here, but could not throw them out of the room either. She only asked the group not to stay too long so that Samuel could rest. She overheard that he was actually feeling better already, even though Samara had been clamoring, hardly that she had entered the room. Varius' look revealed that he wanted to be alone with him. But that was hardly possible at the moment and Samuel was not sure if it was even a good idea. 

To his horror he learned from the crew that he had been lying here for more than a month. This could not be! He noticed that Thantos looked sick. But he assured him that he too was on the road to recovery. Of course his _shaday_ had also suffered from the collapse. Samuel remembered seeing the drell go down after he had spit blood in the sand. Triple T told him what had happened after he was unconscious. 

"De Kanos defended you like a wild varren. He was beside himself. Heard that the angara are very free with their emotions, but it was almost frightening. Didn't he even cry?" Trox told his commander.  
"It wasn't that extreme, kchch, but actually he didn't let go of you and carried you to the shuttle, kchch. I didn't know that angara could run so fast, kchch. And, yes, kchh, he cried. I saw him, kchh. But as you know, angara are very emotional." Teekoy said.  
"I was just saying they're very free with their emotions." Mouth Trox.  
The volus looked at Varius. "Talorian here had some struggle with de Kanos. The professor was really screaming at him, kchch, when he wanted to pull you from his arms and take you to the hospital, kchch. Thought they were going to tear each other to pieces, kchh, while you were bleeding to death. But, kchch, Thantos and Trox called them to reason."

Varius nodded and remained silent. Samuel looked at him a moment longer. The rigger was conspicuously silent. But he looked at Samuel constantly. The turian clearly had something on his mind, but obviously wanted to discuss it in private. It was somehow uncomfortable.

"Professor de Kanos was chased out of the hospital room by Dr. ja Varuhn to rest. He did not want to leave you. I think he... well, he likes you very much." Samara said, smiling uncertainly. 

Then she cleared her throat, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to stay formal anyway. Samuel just nodded softly, remaining silent. And did not show what he felt or thought about it. "The... rest of the crew sends their regards, Commander. They will visit you in the coming days. Keni and Tiberius will also come by. They have settled in well so far, you will be able to read about it in the logs of the InfoBoard."

"Your survival was on Amonkiras edge. Dr. ja Varuhn said it was a miracle you're still alive." Thantos spoke softly. There was more for him to say, but he too was waiting for them to be among themselves.

Samuel looked at his _shaday_ again. He saw how upset he was. Thantos showed his feelings even less than Samuel. But he sensed the worries and fears he had endured. It would have been the same for him. And he would have set the galaxy in motion to help him somehow. They lived for each other. They died for each other, even though neither of them hoped the latter would ever happen.

"You're the best crew a man could ask for." Samuel spoke softly and managed to smile a faint smile.  
Even Thantos smiled gently.  
"Oh, just get back on your feet, boy." Said Trox and received approval.

Samara was obviously struggling with tears. She left the room together with Trox, Varius and Teekoy after Thantos had given her a longer look. The drell stayed in the room and sat down at the edge of the bed. Samuel looked at him and knew what he thought and what he would say. So he beat him to it. 

"I'm sorry I weakened you and made you worry." He said softly, lowering his eyes. 

Thantos looked at him silently from his black eyes. Then finally he couldn‘t hold back anymore: "I had not allowed you to do that! You ignored the rule that your life no longer belongs to you, _kouday_! You dared to disobey me." 

His voice sounded stern, angry, and yet Samuel could feel the pain and worry in it. But no matter: _kouday_. Samuel winced slightly when he heard this word. His fingers dug deeply into the fabric of the blanket as he clenched his hands trembling into fists. He did not look at Thantos. That was not the best idea at that moment either. He did not want to risk getting a slap in the face for breaking another rule by looking at his _shaday_ in this very moment, when he wasn‘t allowed to look at him. Still he tried to defend himself.

"I knew that you would not allow it. To be honest, I didn't even think about it at that moment." He spoke softly.

Thantos himself began to tremble. There were moments when he had to fight with his emotions. One such moment was now. He grabbed Samuel, although weakened, by the throat, but did not squeeze too hard.

"You dare to justify yourself, _kouday_? Do I have to remind you that you are that? A slave! You have to obey me!" He hissed.

Samuel did not resist. Although these words hurt him deeply. He tensed up and closed his eyes. He swallowed and felt a lump forming in his throat, tears streaming into his eyes. He hated it when Thantos called him a slave. It was true and some bad hanar or arrogant drell would let him feel that. Bu it didn't matter. The thing was it was just as unbearable for him when he was angry with him. And he was. Because he had been very worried about him. And because he had almost lost him. Their connection went deeper than any other. 

"I'm... I'm sorry... I'm sorry, _shaday_! Please...forgive me." Samuel whispered in a choked voice. 

Thantos took a deep breath. The grip around Samuel's throat loosened. Then the drell released his hand from him and placed it gently in his neck while he leaned his scaly forehead against the elven one and closed his eyes. They both practiced controlling their emotions. But sometimes it was just too hard. Thantos remained silent. Then he leaned forward and gave Samuel a gentle kiss on the forehead. Samuel closed his eyes and put one hand on the forearm of Thantos, which he had put on his shoulder. 

"You may look up again." Thantos spoke softly.

Samuel then raised his eyes and looked at his soul brother and master. Tears stood in the black eyes. Pain, mental pain, ran through Samuel and he put his arms around him, pulled him to himself and held him as far as his strength allowed. Thantos returned the embrace slowly. So they stayed still for a few long moments.

"You have risked your life for this angara." At some point, Thantos spoke softly.

Samuel nodded and the hug dissolved.

"He means a great deal to you." The drell noticed and looked at Samuel.  
"I'm... not sure why I did all this." Whispered Samuel and shook his head. "For some time now... I don't know what's wrong with me. I have too many feelings that are distracting me all the time."  
"We will meditate again. And if they torture you too much, we will perform a ritual that will make you be able to deal with them." Said Thantos.  
"Better a ritual to banish those feelings for good." Whispered Samuel.  
"Consider that this may be the wrong way."  
"They are making my life miserable, _paratan_. Putting me – putting **you** – in grave danger. It is not only Saraan who confuses me. It's... it's Varius."  
Thantos looked at him. "Varius is completely controlled by his emotions. His affection for you seems to have grown very much." He confirmed. "And since he is turian, he has decided to capture you."  
Samuel sighed. "He ain‘t capture me. He must forget this. Just as I must try to banish these dangerous feelings."

Varius had to leave this path again. Samuel suspected that except for Thantos, no one knew for certain that the rigger of the crew probably had deeper feelings for the Phoenix commander. Even Samuel did not believe in it so far. And he hoped that this story would be brought to its end very quickly. Emotions could be a curse. And dreams, too. But this dream? Should he tell Thantos about the dream? About the melody? After a short consideration he decided to tell him about it. Thantos listened in silence.

"It sounds like a vision to me. But it seems to come from this world, from this galaxy. Someone from here might have more to say about it." He finally decided. "But I'm sure this is more than a dream. Much more."  
"But how can it be, Thantos? We are not from here. And yet... in that cave, I had the feeling I had been there before." Said Samuel.  
"Perhaps the priestess of the angara, the Moshae, knows something about it." Thantos replied. He looked at the door. "Samara is waiting. I will leave you two alone. Get well, be prepared."  
Samuel sighed softly and nodded. "You too, get your strength back."

Thantos left the room and a short time later, Samara entered. She had given her time to the two of them, who needed each other desperately. Now she hurried to the bed and fell around her brother's neck. He groaned quietly and was annoyed that he hardly had the strength to withstand the momentum with which his sister had rushed in.

"Never do that again! I thought I'd lost you, you stupid moron, you idiot!" She whimpered.  
Samuel gently put his arms around her body. "I'll try. But I can't promise, Sam." He said softly. "As an APEX agent, you live dangerously."  
"Idiot! APEX or no APEX." She wiped tears from her eyes. "Thantos has cried." She whispered. 

Those words hit Samuel like a punch in the stomach. He had already experienced his soul brother crying earlier. But that he must have cried so much that Samara told about it was frightening. He looked at her as she stood up.

"He did it quietly, but, by the gods, I have never seen him...cry like that before. He sat by your bed and prayed to the gods. Begged them to protect you and not to take you away from him. He... ...he gave you the kiss of soul power." 

Samuel swallowed and struggled with tears again for a few seconds. He closed his eyes.

"It seems to have helped." She muttered. 

Samuel opened his eyes again and stared into space. "I owe him my life. And the next. ...my soul."  
Samara squeezed his hand. "All your being belongs to him already." 

Samara knew that Thantos and Samuel were deeply connected. They were not lovers. But their bond was just as deep. 

"Nevertheless... No one should cry for me." He said.  
"Oh, Sam." His sister sighed and squeezed him again. "Thank the gods you made it." 

They were all glad that Samuel was awake again. And so was he. He had not wanted to show it, simply because he never tried to show weakness. But he felt exhausted and helpless. He hated this state. He could not lie around here. He did not want to. Was he that weak? 

"I want to get out of here, Sam." He muttered.  
"I know. But you need to rest. Promise me you will, okay? Samara said.  
"Hmm, how much longer to rest?" He asked.  
"Dr. ja Varuhn says at least another four days." Samara replied and added ' when she heard her brother sigh: "After that you can return to the ship. And then you will have plenty of time to take a close look at Aya's nature.  
"Wonderful." Mumbled Samuel and made a complaing sound as Samara ran her hand through his white hair and tousled it.  
"I will let you sleep again. Just get well again!" 

His sister said goodbye and left the sickroom. Outside the hospital she met Saraan, who had just been released by Dr. ja Varuhn. She had insisted that he be examined regularly after this adventure. Samara told Professor de Kanos that her brother was sleeping. He thanked her and looked at her. Apparently he had something on his mind. Samara asked about it and so he spoke. 

"Mr. Savallian did not answer me what I wanted to know. It was that he owned your brother's life. Although your brother once told me something about the relationship between master and slave, he never told me how it came about. And what it really meant."  
Samara hesitated. "I... would like you to take the opportunity to ask Samuel this. It is a very personal matter."  
Saraan nodded: "I understand." 

Samuel dreamed again. Pictures that he could not assign appeared in his mind's eye. Blurred scenes and colors. Unrecognizable faces. Again this melody resounded in his mind. So strangely familiar. With it in his head he woke up again. The last time he was awake, it had been light outside. Now the room was bathed in dimmed artificial light. This time he was not alone. At first he couldn't do anything with the large figure sitting in an armchair next to his hospital bed. Then he recognized the angara. Saraan sat there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His head had sunk to the broad chest. His eyes were closed. He was obviously dozing. Samuel could hear it from his regular deep breathing. He did not want to wake him. How long had he been here? And anyway: how long had he been here himself? Samuel detected his omnitool lying in a half-open drawer of the table next to his bed. He stretched out an arm and grabbed it. It lit up blue when he touched it. He felt that he was no longer so exhausted. He was shocked when his omnitool told him that he had slept not a few hours, but a few days.

"Shit!" he hissed softly. 

This seemed to have been heard by Saraan. There was movement in the body of the angara, who slowly raised his head. Samuel looked at him. 

„I'm sorry, I... didn't mean to... wake you up." His last words ebbed. 

It was stunning each time to look out into Saraan's galaxies. Locking on gaze with an angara must be breath-taking he once had heard someone talking about the eyes of an angara. Yeah. That was so absolutely right. Once looked in the eyes of an angara it was almost impossible to look away again. At least when he looked in the eyes of this angara. 

"How do you feel?" Saraan asked quietly.  
"Better, I think. I don't want to lie around here anymore." Samuel replied. 

He looked up at the ceiling. Six hundred years of kryosleep had been long enough, hadn't it? Samara had said something about four days he had to stay here. They had definitely passed.

"Why did you save me?" 

Samuel could almost hear the thought frame shattering inside him. He was so surprised by the question that he could not hide his surprise and looked at Saraan. He replied his gaze calmly. He had not let him out of his sight for a moment. And could watch very closely how the elf began to suppress his emotions again. He gave him this opportunity. This time, anyway. 

"Because I vowed to myself that whenever I could, I would prevent innocent lives from being extinguished." Samuel replied in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. He had regained his composure. „At least for every innocent life I took, I want to save one. And more if I can.“

It was not the whole truth. But his words were true. He avoided Saraan's gaze because he was actually thinking. Gods, there was no reason to be nervous! But Saraan made him nervous. The way he observed him. Saraan kept looking at him. He didn't seem the least bit shy about staring someone down. Slowly this inquiring look became a burden for Samuel. 

"That's very noble." Said the professor.  
"It's the least I can do." 

Something unsaid lingered in space. 

"You risked your own life. knowing full well that you could die." Saraan said.

"Indeed. But you are a very important person. For the resistance, Lieutenant, for the angara. Your loss would be a catastrophe. Besides, saving you also should be a sign that not all humans are evil and ruthless, but that there are those among us who really want to help and strive for peace and friendship." He replied, looking at Saraan again. 

Saraan held his gaze. "You ran back into that cave, regardless of the fact that death accompanied you. It was madness to return. Nevertheless you saved my life. That is...impressive." 

„I...I‘ve made so many mistakes in my life. And I know I cannot change my past. But at least I can try to change my future.

Saraan watched him with interest as Samuel tried to swing his legs out of bed. He succeeded and he was now sitting opposite the angara on the edge of the bed. His circulation immediately began to protest due to this movement.

„Whew.“ He closed his eyes.  
"Slow down." Said Saraan.  
"It will be all right." Marbled Samuel.

By the gods, he was an adept. An awakened warrior whose most dangerous weapon was his own body. He would be able to stand up on his own! Samuel got up from his bed and wanted to take a few steps, as any normal living being would do, rising from his resting place. That was one of the rudimentary things that people did. Yes. But his muscles had apparently forgotten what kind of work they had to do. No sooner had he said that it would be all right and stood up, than he realized that it wasn't. It did not even stand. He staggered and buckled, causing Saraan to jump up and hold him. Samuel looked up at the big angara. At first he did not think about letting go of him. They were so close. Way too close. Samuel wanted to loosen. Saraan let him.

"You are…. so stubborn. I feel so... uneasy in your presence. Yet save. Thank you for saving my life.“ Saraan whispered.  
Samuel looked up to the angara. „You do not need to thank me. If I can help, if I can make a difference, I do not hesitate.“  
The lieutenant smiled softly.  
„However...I have to thank you.“  
Saraan looked at him questioningly. "Why is that?"  
"Because you're giving me a chance to prove that I'm not the shadowrunner I once was." Samuel replied.

The looked at each other in silence.

The door opened with a soft hiss, making Saraan stop. As soon as his grip loosened, Samuel instantly detached himself from him and sank back to the hospital bed with soft knees.

Garuhna al Vidas, Saraan's sister, entered. A small angara, whom Samuel had seen before, walked along her hand. Laruhn, her son. Garuhna's face was as worried as anyone who had come in here. The shame and confusion he had just felt gave way to a latent sense of guilt. He did not want everyone to look at him with concern. 

"Oh, you're awake, thank the stars!" She said relieved. Then she looked at Saraan. "You are here. I hope I'm not disturbing you."  
"Hello, Miss al Vidas. Nice to see you." Samuel greeted her with a gentle smile.

Saraan looked at his sister, then at Samuel. Laruhn took the decision from her as he separated from his mother's hand and hurried to Saraan to hug him. 

"Uncle Saraan! Samuel is awake!" he announced happily, as if the curator did not know that yet. 

Saraan smiled softly, took his nephew in his arms and pressed him to him. "Yes, you have observed this well." 

Samuel looked at them. He put on a weak smile, but sadness was reflected in his diamond eyes. Garuhna noticed this look but kept silent. Laruhn suddenly broke away from Saraan and climbed onto the bed to fall around Samuel's neck. 

"Hello Samuel!" 

This was not what he had expected. He froze and blinked helplessly at the angara child at his neck.

"Uh, hey, Laruhn. Good to see you." Garuhna giggled behind his back and Saraan smiled as well. 

Samuel looked at him. There was still confusion in him. But at the same time he felt this warm feeling spreading in his chest and belly. Whenever he saw this smile in Saraan's face. 

"True Mother said you were very sick, are you better now?" Laruhn asked.  
"I think so, yes." Samuel replied, smiling uncertainly, patting the little one on the back.  
"Laruhn wanted to visit you. He is very fond of you. And I like you a lot, too!" Garuhna said open-heartedly. "And Saraan likes you a lot too, by the way. Don't you, dear brother?" 

Whether she had said these words without knowing what the situation between the two of them was, or whether it had been entirely intentional, was hard to tell. Samuel didn‘t say a word and banished emerging feelings immediately. As always, he succeeded. Temporarily. Saraan, however, looked at his sister and turned purple. That might be the equivalent of red, Samuel thought with fascination. But Saraan smiled. 

"Samuel is not an evil man. It is probably right to like him." Replied the angara.

Like him? Well, he could work with that. That eased the situation. Anyway, Samuel told himself that there was nothing more than sympathy between them. The voice that kept whispering to him: _'you don't believe that yourself. But look, even Saraan's feelings are very ambivalent,'_ he ignored.

"Oh, Saraan, but Samuel is very fond of you, too. He didn't just save you because you are such a good curator and resistance fighter. right?" 

Now it was Samuel's turn to feel, as he blushed, "Friends are very important. And when they are in need, you are there for them." He quickly said.

Garuhna smiled. "You said that beautifully. But perhaps there will be more than friendship between you. That would do my brother a lot of good. And surely you as well."  
Samuel stared at her wordlessly. She didn‘t say that now, did she?

"I think we should let Samuel rest again. Soon he will be back on his feet. Laruhn, go with your mother." Mumbled Saraan embarrassed.

The little boy sulked and whined, but finally let go of Samuel and jumped to his mother, who smiled encouragingly at him.

"Will Samuel come and visit us? I also want to see how he fights with swords. He surely can fight with our stick-blade weapons, too!" Said Laruhn and turned once more to Samuel: "You will teach me, yes?"

"I'll see." Samuel replied and smiled amusedly.  
"He must first get well, Laruhn. After that he will surely come to visit us." Said Garuhna and smiled at Samuel. How could he say no with that smile?  
"With pleasure." he said quietly and looked after them as they left the room.

Saraan stayed a moment longer. „I wanted to know something else from you.“  
„What would you like to know?“

Saraan began to speak: "your friend, Thantos Savallian gave me no answers. I heard him say to your sister: 'he must remember that his life is no longer his own as I have taken it from him once.' What does that mean? He took your life. You are still alive. So I guess he didn‘t kill you. I remember you talking about Mr Savallian being your master, your - what was the word?“ 

„ _Shaday._. The term was _shaday_.“ Samuel added.  
Saraan nodded slowly. "Your sister said I should ask you about this because it was very personal." 

Samuel hesitated for a moment. 

"Well. It basically means what you heard." He replied. "My life is no longer mine as Thantos – Mr. Savallian took it from me."  
Saraan's expression became more inquiring. "Please explain this to me."  
„Maybe you will have a bad impression of me again afterwards.“ Murmured Samuel.  
"I'll take my chances." Saraan replied.  
"Well, I…... suppose I will, too."


	15. Interlude: The Past - Death, Rebirth and an Eternal Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is about how Thantos and Samuel became soul bothers. And how Thantos became Samuel's master.

_The past. Forever lost. Gone and still it haunts us. But this doesn’t mean one has to be a slave of the past._

_-Thantos Savallian ___

__

___Seattle, UCAS, sometime in the 2190's_ _ _

__Samuel kneeled on the ground. A blade in his pale slim hands. He heard the rain coming down outside of the shelter he found when he strolled through the dark streets of Seattle. He felt numb. If you can say that feeling numb is any kind of feeling. He was walking through the streets for hours. Trying to figure out what he should do. How he should go on and came to the conclusion: he couldn‘t. He musn‘t go on. Life had no meaning for him anymore. He wasn't even 15 but his life was over. It never had began to be honest. He was a streetrat. But he also was an assassin. A murderer. He had attempted his first murder at the age of 7 and had brought death so so many people since then._ _

__Now it was time to wipe another evil creature from earth he thought when was just strolling around without any destination and he found that arms store. Within the window there was this beautiful archaic blade. A wakizashi. How fitting as he had plan to do some kind of ritual suicide like sepukku in ancient Japan. He bought that blade not caring about its price. Too many Nuyen but whatever? It would be the last thing on which he would ever spend money. Now he was there in this abandoned place. Must have been some kind of nursery school. How ironical he thought. He would end his life in a place for childern he recently saw dying. It was his fault. He just cared about the money until he realized it all was a farce. Now he would pay for his mistake._ _

__The grip of his hand fastened around the wakizashi. He would take his life like once the samurai did. But, no, he was no samurai. He was not worth called one. But he would suffer like one at least. He felt the top of the sharp blade pricking his stomachs skin when he positioned the knife._ _

__„Samuel. Stop!“_ _

__Right in the moment when he wanted to push the knife into his abdomen he heard a high female voice calling his name. His real name. Noone called him by his real name except of two people. This couldn‘t be. How could she have found him? He looked up and saw the little red-haired girl approaching._ _

__„Samara.“ His voice was raucos._ _

__He saw the frightened expression in her face. Yeah. He must look terrible._ _

__„Don‘t do that.“ She whispered._ _

__Before he could give an answer he noticed a shadow behind the girl. One moment later, silent like mist, a drell stood next to Samara watching Samuel with his completely black eyes. Samuel immediately recognized the alien. It was his martial arts teacher Thantos Savallian. He told him everything he knew about martial arts from Earth and from his chosen home world, Kahje. He had ever admired him and loved to train with him. But it was unpleasant to see him here now. Why did Samara bring him here?_ _

__“Samara, go. Leave me alone.” Samuel said weakly._ _

__He was nearly a child and about to end his miserable life with a knife. Samuel turned his gaze to Thantos. He replied the gaze. Not a single clue of emotion. Just this comprehensive composure._ _

__“You know him very well.” Samara said. Still she was composed. Brave 15 years old Samara. „He found me when I was looking for you. He said he will help you.“_ _

__Samuel chuckled in a most bitter way. „Ha. Help me. Noone can help me, Samara. I‘m sorry I was such a failure brother for you.“ Goddamn why did she have to be here now?_ _

__

__„You ain‘t take your life. I will.“ Suddenly Thantos said._ _

__He had an accent like many drell who aren‘t used to speak in human tongues. His voice was like all drell‘s voice kind of extremely guttural. And deep like the ocean. Samuel couldn‘t help. Like often he was fascinated by this man. But nothing and noone could stop him from doing what he had planned to do. Thantos wanted to take his life? Samuel, still kneeling, looked up to him._ _

__„Do as you please. I deserve it. I murdered innocents. Killed children.“ He silently said. „But-“ he heard Samara giving a soft sob. „Don‘t let her watch.“  
Thantos turned his head to Samara. The scales on it gleamed like gems. „She wants to watch.“ He said. „She wants to witness how I take your life.“. _ _

__Samuel suddenly felt fear. Not for himself but for Samara. He looked at her. She didn’t reply. Stared on the ground. Her face covered in shadows. Thantos stepped forward and suddenly he had a strange dagger in his hand. He crouched down, moving like silk in a summer breeze at night. Faster than one could see he had pushed back the young elf and rammed the dagger into his chest. Samuel felt an agony he never had felt before in his short life. He cried out in surprise and then in grave pain. The blade had found its way into his flesh right above his heart. It didn‘t cut deep enough to kill him. But it hurt. It hurt like hell. If it was burning into him. He wanted to retreat but couldn't move. Thantos hold the blade and had made a fist with his free hand. _He_ hold him at his place! He somehow had paralyzed him. Maybe there was poison on the blade? Why did he do that? _ _

__„Jus….-just...kill me already..!“ Samuel groaned with pain._ _

__Still not a single emotion in the drell‘s face. No, wait. Samuel could see pain within the slim face. His black eyes fixating the boy before him. Blood began to rush through Samuels head. The pain grew stronger and stronger, the longer the blade was in his flesh. Samuel, biting his teeth, soon barely couldn‘t withstand any longer. He cried out in pain again and then – blackness surrounded him. He fainted._ _

__Within the blackness of his mind he still heard the voice of Thantos deep in his head going through his body, reaching his mind, claiming his soul._ _

__„I hereby take your life. Your life is mine, your soul is mine, your body is mine. Now and forever.“_ _

___…...”The Compact is concluded. The _para‘rābeṭ_ is completed.” ……. _ _ _

__So this was the end? It was strange. He never would have imagined a drell giving him the last rites. The last drell rites? Darkness utterly surrounded him. Silence. Nothing. Except the fact he was able to think. It somehow was like a lucid dream. And then he woke up._ _

__What was that? Was he dead? Was he alive? When he first opened his eyes he saw the sordid babyish unicorn-cloud-planes-ceiling of the abandoned nursery. He was still there. Breathing. He laid on the ground. And he was alive. Because he felt the pain in his chest again. He grimaced and rolled to the side. There he saw someone kneeling on the ground with the back turned to him. The figure had taken off his overgarments. Scales in blue, violet and white were shimmering all over the body. The head somehow reminded of a cobra. Thantos. No trace of Samara._ _

__Samuel managed to sit up. His upper body was naked like Thantos’ upper body and hurt. He noticed something on his chest. So this was where the pain came from. A mark. A symbol. It looked like a stilistic snake or an S with a point in the round part._ _

__„You`re awake. Good.“ Thantos‘ calm guttural voice softly filled the air.  
„What...what happened?“ Samuel asked. „am I dead?“. _ _

__He hardly couldn`t believe that unless Thantos also had killed himself. Thantos turned around and looked at Samuel. In his eyes he saw the softest expression he had ever seen within another ones eyes for a very long time. That gaze reminded him of something familiar. Home. It was strange. He detected the same symbol on Thantos’ chest but it was mirror-inverted._ _

__“You are not dead. I took your life, like I said. It belongs to me now. We are now in the Compact. I am your _shaday_ , your master. You don’t possess your body, nor your life or your soul anymore. You are my _kouday_ , my property.” Thantos explained.  
“So I’m your slave now?” Samuel asked. That sounded terrible.  
“Yes. But first of all you are my scholar. Not my slave. I will teach you my way of life. My faith. Furthermore, we are _paratan_.”  
Samuel was familiar to this term. “Soul brothers?” He said surprised. Thantos nodded.  
“When I feel pain, you will feel pain. When you feel pain I’ll feel it, too. Over the time our souls and our minds will coalesce. We will be a mortal pair together.”  
Samuel examined the drell and blushed a little bit when he asked: “so we….we are a couple now?”  
Thantos slightly smiled. “No. Use _team_ if that’s more pleasant for you.”_ _

__This was the night when he and Thantos forged their eternal bond of body and soul._ _

__

__His feelings for Thantos haven't changed through all those years. From that memorably day on he had loved him. Though there might have been many days when he also hated him. But in the end everything Thantos did to him was to teach him to become a mortal fighter, an adept whose body is the most dangerous of all weapons he’d ever use. He taught him to become a better person. He left the shadows and renounced the illegal mercenary life. Together with Thantos and his sister he travelled the galaxy, learning, fighting, helping and growing up to be a strong man. He and Thantos were never separated for long. They were one._ _

__Thantos had become his brother. Actually he was more like that. Bound were their souls, their minds, their bodies. And like the drell once has said they shared pain, wounds, even dreams sometimes. They worked perfectly together. They were a mortal team in battle. Blindly the one could rely on the other. Samuel had learned that he could trust Thantos completely et vice versa. He had to. Even with a blade on his throat he had to. He had learned not only to trust Thantos completely, but also to show him the eternal respect that a master deserves. He was his master. His _shaday_. If there was no one else to whom he paid respect, to whom he sought advice and whom he obeyed, Thantos was always the exception. This had become an integral part of his life. Even later, when he became captain and commander and thus Thantos' superior, the drell was still his _shaday _. And Thantos showed him as much respect and affection.____

> ____”Should the day come when one of us dies - and it will come….. a part of the other will also die. And his life will be another. Forever.” ____ _ _


	16. Chapter 12: Returning to the Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Commander returns to the ship feeling his affection for Professor de Kanos is growing. His rigger's very jealous about that and the Phoenix's hanar is...green.

_"Should the day come when one of us dies - and it will come..... a part of the other will also die. And his life will be another. Forever."_

"So it was a ... ritual. He has taken your life in a ritual way. Took it from you and made you his property." Saraan spoke slowly. It could be seen that the thought displeased him.

He had listened in silence the whole time while Samuel had told the story of how Thantos Savallian "took" his life. He had given him a new one. Had opened him a new path, led him out of the dark. Samuel could understand all too well that Saraan did not agree with this relationship. The history of the angara was marked by oppression, violence, fear and hatred. The kett had once come to them, had promised them many wonderful things and had led the angara into a reign of terror. 

"Property. Slave, master. All this sounds negative. And I fully understand that due to your past with the kett you detest these terms. Nor do I ask for you to show any understanding. But, yes, our living together is characterized by many rituals. Thantos taught me many things." Said Samuel. "Above all, he taught me humility." 

He smiled a little as he talked about it and looked lost in thought. Bittersweet memories brought up this word. More bitter than sweet, because the lessons in humility were often very, very painful. For his body, but above all for his pride. He had learned to control pride and anger, especially when Thantos called him a _kouday_ , a slave. Fortunately, this was rare, but it always marked the moment when a limit had been crossed for the drell. For Samuel this meant that he better not aggravate his _shaday_ any further.

"I am very grateful today that he has brought me back down to earth so often. And certainly not without bruises or bleeding wounds." 

Saraan raised his eyebrows: "he hit you?"

Samuel looked at the angara.  
"It was rare that he hit me and I did not fight back. But then it was deserved. Most of the injuries I sustained were from training and fighting with him. And believe me, I had many, many injuries."

Samuel could remember a violent slap in the face that Thantos had once given him. It had been well deserved, as far as he could remember. Samara had been there and had not even dared to breathe after Thantos had beaten him. He remembered that he had struggled with tears at that time. Because he had been so angry. But he had swallowed his anger and pride and apologized to Thantos. This had been a first important step towards another self. How old might he have been? 18 or 19 years old?

Saraan seemed thoughtful as well. They walked next to each other in silence for a few moments. As the story unfolded, they had left the hospital room and moved to the small viewing platform behind the Infirmary. There they sat next to each other on a bench and enjoyed the view. It was good to be outside again. A breeze brought a sweet forest scent with it. Flowers, wood, the breath of nature from Aya. Samuel sucked it in deeply and sighed softly. 

"I have not often been to Aya's forest. But it was beautiful every time. So peaceful." He said, lost in thought.  
"We'll go for a walk in the forest as soon as you get your strength back." Suggested Saraan.

Samuel looked at him. The lieutenant gave him a heartly smile. Gods, he loved that smile. Gently, Samuel responded. Even now he found it so hard to smile honestly. Or even to laugh.However, the smile of the angara awakened something in him. Or it rather loosened a chain that was always tightened.

"That would be great." He replied softly.

They looked at each other for some long moments. Samuel realized, not for the first time, that what they said about angara eyes was true: the eyes of an angara almost resemble the satellite view of a lost golden world, of the galaxy itself. _‚Locking your gaze of an angara must be breath-taking‘_ he once heard. That was true.

The deep blue cat eyes of Saraan captivated him this time as well. It was Saaran who finally lowered his gaze. He sighed softly and turned his head towards the forest of Aya. For a few moments he looked beyond the beauty of nature and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He thought about something. Samuel watched him. 

"Is everything okay?" He asked carefully.

Saraan showed a barely perceptible nod. He did not look at Samuel. Then he spoke again. Saraan had a pleasant way of speaking. With a slight accent. His accent reminded Samuel slightly of an Arab chummer, with which he had once had a very amusing run. In any case, he sounded very pleasant. He spoke slowly, not monotonously. His voice was so deep and sounded so soft, so reassuring. It was infinitely pleasant. He could just listen to him for hours. But it was not appropriate to sink into that sound now. And not for him. So he remained completely attentive and looked at Saraan.

"When I was very young, I was a fervent follower of the Roekaar, the predecessors of the Roeshaar - who hold exactly the same views, but call themselves just "new Roekaar". I ... was used to hate aliens. I was like all Roekaar. I wore my face tattoos with pride. And I have to admit that I still have, well, a...biased attitude. 

Samuel continued to listen to him in silence. Saraan looked at him. 

"Through you, however...as I said to your sister at the time, I have gained a new perspective. Your story...about your past, about what you did, scared me off. And … it let me return latently to my old pattern. I had to think about it for a long time. I honestly didn't want to think about it. Wanted to forget. But I remembered: you were honest with me. Revealed such a secret to me. ... You could have lied to me and I wouldn't have known. But you were sincere. And now you have saved my life and almost died yourself. You have made a great sacrifice."

Saraan fell into silence after he had spoken. Samuel did not speak either. He gave him time, for he saw hesitation. The sapphire eyes before the black eyeballs twitched gently to the left and right as he looked at Samuel. Then they wandered to the ground. The lips opened a crack. Was he looking for words?

"I want us to be friends, Saraan." Samuel suddenly spoke softly. 

So suddenly it came out of him. He had not wanted to say the thought. His abdomen cramped up. He was already formulating an apology in his head because Saraan was looking at him with that lurking look that every angara was capable of. All he had to do was to lower his head a bit and look up while not smiling. The eyes and the shadow that fell on the flat narrow face did the rest. Immediately one had the impression that a cat of prey was staring at you. It was unpleasant.

And it became even more unpleasant when Saraan straightened up and turned towards Samuel on the bench. Samuel in this very moment felt even smaller than he already did in the presence of this creature, who was almost one and a half heads taller and significantly broader than him. He swallowed and was about to apologize when the angara drew his mouth into a broad smile. And immediately the gloom fell away from him.

"I would be delighted to be friends with you. Samuel." He answered.

Samuel's heart opened. He felt so childish. But there was nothing he could do about it. He smiled. And this time, this one first time, his smile was more real and deeper than any smile he had shown in previous years. Saraan seemed to notice this immediately. He could, as he had once mentioned, read well in others.

"It's good to see you happy." Saraan said softly.

Samuel was not sure what he was feeling now. But he felt what he wanted to answer: _I feel happy when you are near me._ But this did not happen. A figure came scurrying around the corner. An asari who looked around frantically. Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa. She seemed to be looking for something. Or someone. When she spotted them, it was clear who she had been looking for.

"Commander! Thank the Goddess, there you are. You're supposed to be resting! Are you feeling better?" Asked the asari.  
"Yes, I think so. Well enough to finally be able to return to the Phoenix, I hope." Samuel replied.  
"That's why I came looking for you. I would like to pick you up and accompany you to the ship. I hope it goes without saying that you cannot be unaccompanied for the time being."

"ls that so?" Samuel raised one eyebrow.  
"You may feel fitter again, but there is still a permanent risk that your body will weaken. And as the medical officer responsible for you, I can not allow you, to-..."  
"All right, all right. I'll get a babysitter." Sighed Samuel.  
"So to speak."  
"A babysitter when I'm on the road, I presume? Or do I have to tolerate anyone else taking a shower and going to my quarters?"  
"I'm assuming you'll be able to do that on your own. On the ship I can react faster if something should happen. But if you're on the road, then..."  
"I understand, doctor." Samuel said.

The asari nodded and looked at Saraan. "Our commander is more than willing to risk his life for others. This makes him both heroic and incredibly foolish."  
"Hey." Hummed Samuel. "I'm still your superior officer, yes? Show a little respect."

Dr. Ven'Tisa looked at the elf and tilted her head: "in my many hundreds of years of living now, I have met very, very few people - excuse me, elves - who were like you. You are truly unique, Commander."  
Samuel dared a wry smile. "I'll take that as a compliment."  
"I suggest we return to the Phoenix. Where a crazed crew is waiting for their commander to return.“ Ven'Tisa said, finally smiling, before turning around and walking back into the building.

Saraan smiled. "She seems like a very good and very caring doctor."  
"Yes, she is. Without a doubt. But I still don't need a babysitter." Samuel mumbled.

Saraan gurgled and rose. He turned to Samuel and held out a hand to him. The hands of the angara were different from the hands of humans. They had the bone structure for five fingers, but the final three fingers on each hand were densely webbed together into a single digit. Samuel looked at the big hand for a few moments. Then he put his into the Saraans and stood up. Saraan let go of him and they headed back to the hospital room. The door of the sickroom opened with a soft hiss, but just before he could enter the room, he felt Saraan's hand gently on his shoulder and paused. With a slightly questioning expression he looked up at the angara. Saraan returned his gaze and let go. A smile flashed across his lips. 

"Samuel, I...thank you. For saving my life." Saraan spoke gently.  
Samuel nodded at him, smiling slightly, "I would do it again anytime.“ He replied.

When the commander entered the room, Dr. Ven'Tisa and Varius Talorian stood there. The turian looked at him with a neutral expression and at least gave Samuel the feeling of being on a more professional level again. His words and his voice also suggested this. Samuel, however, did not want to think about it or Varius in any more detail, even though his perception had been restored to such an extent that he had noticed the look of his rigger, which had briefly wandered over to Lieutenant Professor de Kanos and was by no means friendly.

"Good to see you up and about, Commander." Said Varius.  
Samuel nodded. "I'm glad to be on my feet, too, at last."  
He looked at Dr Ven'Tisa. "Shall we leave?"

The asari nodded. Samuel went to the sickbed where his omnitool was lying and strapped it around his wrist. Then he reached for a backpack that had obviously been brought to him over the past weeks and wanted to shoulder it when Dr. Ven'Tisa took it off him. Puzzled, he looked at her.

"No, no, you are not overexerting yourself!" She said.  
"What? But, that's just...?" Samuel protested.  
The asari medical officer pressed the backpack to Varius' chest.  
"I am not a child or an old man, doctor!" Samuel snorted in indignation.

But the doctor was relentless. Varius shouldered the backpack and kept silent, but he could not wipe off his grin. Even Saraan laughed softly. The dear Commander did not find the whole thing amusing at all, but did not engage in any further discussion with the medical officer, who was almost as stubborn as he was, and left the Infirmary with her, Varius and Saraan. They crossed the entrance hall that connected the hospital with the main base of the Resistance and finally stood outside on the streets of Aya. Once again Samuel turned to Saraan, while Dr. Ven'Tisa and Varius preceded. 

"I was pleased that we could talk. And I'm glad that I, well, might have been able to change your views on humans a little bit." He said.  
Saraan nodded gently. "You certainly have. While this New Order is still a danger. But I have learned from you that not everyone is automatically a criminal.“  
He looked briefly at the other two and asked Samuel: "Shall I accompany you a little longer?

Samuel almost shouted euphorically: _'yes, of course!_ But he said politely: "only if you have time."  
Saraan smiled. " _Aal joh sheekom binaal ama toh_ \- I always have time for you."

They walked towards the two of them and then together they walked towards the docks. Varius and Dr. Ven'Tisa walked a little staggered behind the commander and the professor. Ven'Tisa smiled in delight as she watched Wolfsbane and de Kanos. Varius, on the other hand, kept clacking and twitching his mandibles in a tense manner and emitting a soft rumble. He probably ate Saraan alive in his thoughts.

"Be peaceful, Mr. Talorian. The two obviously get along very well." Whispered the asari.

Varius gave her a look that was anything but friendly. But Ven'Tisa was not moved. She had long since noticed and most likely correctly interpreted the hostile reaction of the turian, which was immediately recognizable if one was familiar with the turian habits and behavior and could interpret the sounds and especially the mandible movements. She watched him closer. Varius gave a quiet, contemptuous hiss. Also a typical sound of displeasure. As medical officer and scientist Coralia was very interested in the behavior of other species. And she decided at that moment to subject Varius and the Commander to a secret study. For apparently the turian had gotten it into his head to make the elf his mate. Thoughtfulness seized her and she observed Varius from that moment on. He was very late for this behavior. But the more likely explanation was that he had gone through this phase before, but lost his partner. Meanwhile, Varius felt so stared at by the doctor that he turned his head and looked at her.

"What is it?" He asked unnerved.  
"Oh, don't let me disturb you." Dr. Ven'Tisa replied, causing more confusion in Varius.  
"About what?"

Coralia thought. Should she advise Talorian not to continue focussing on the commander, thus preventing potential complications? Or should she encourage him and thus get her study just started? She decided on the latter. She was still very young for an asari and simply too curious about the course of this development. And besides, she had actually had little opportunity to research the courtship, fighting and mating behavior of turians. Or rather a male turian who had chosen a male human as his partner. Without doubt this could become extremely interesting.

"You know, if you were planning to win the commander over, you should go for it. The likeable angaran professor seems to have Wolfsbane completely under his spell." Ven'Tisa said with a smile. 

She passed Varius. He looked after her for a moment and slowed his pace. Then he caught up with her again. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked.  
"One must be very blind or insensitive not to see that you are boiling with jealousy, Mr. Talorian."

Varius gave a grumpy growl. Ven'Tisa smiled again and activated her omnitool, opening a new project in one of her scientific programs to make first entries. That would certainly be interesting. 

"Would you please come to me later? I'd like to ask you a few questions about your species' mating habits." She said, earning another very puzzled look from Varius.

Professor de Kanos accompanied the three members of the Phoenix through the city and to the landing platform where the space ship was. Dr. Ven'Tisa went ahead, but stopped at the top of the airlock. Samuel turned to Saraan once more.

"Thank you for accompanying us. Please give Garuhna and Laruhn a greeting." He said.

"I will do that. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you again soon." Saraan replied and added with a somewhat shy smile, "and...I would also be very happy to see you again soon, Samuel."

The Commander nodded softly and wanted to say goodbye:  
"well, then..."

When the angara suddenly came to him and took him in his arms. The elf widened his eyes, remained still and let the embrace happen. It lasted only briefly, but was firm and impressive. Now Samuel remembered. Angara liked to do that. They hugged each other when they liked each other and because they liked to express their feelings. However: an angara could punch you in the face as quickly as he hugged you. Sometimes it happened in that exact order. They were very open then. After a moment's hesitation, Samuel slowly returned the hug.

Dr. Ven'Tisa at the top of the ship's entrance smiled when she saw the two of them, but then watched the rigger more closely and accurately wrote down his reactions. The turian's mandibles worked incessantly as his whole body cramped. Only the doctor saw this, however. _Very fascinating_ , she thought and typed busily. 

Saraan let go of the commander and took a step back. He was still smiling. Finally they said goodbye and Samuel followed the asari into the ship. Varius in turn followed the commander. 

On board it was quiet. Too quiet. 

"Did everyone kill each other in my absence?" Samuel asked somewhat uncertainly.  
"No, in fact they are all still alive. Except of Var." Replied Varius. Samuel stared at the turian.  
"Excuse me?"  
"Mr. Talorian, please. Mr. Var is perfectly all right again." Sighed Ven'Tisa.  
" _Again_?" Repeated Samuel as they took the corridor to the captain's quarters.

"He borrowed some of the substances from Miss vas Xehala she always mixes..."  
"Wait a minute. What is she mixing?" The commander became even more worried. What in the three gods names did happen here?  
"Oh, some of these substances are quite useful. Only recently, she accidentally developed an antidote for certain endemic plant toxins. Mr. Var, however he managed it, borrowed a sample of this antidote and - please don't ask me why - slipped it to Tiran Suvay."

Samuel had stopped again and stared at Dr. Ven'Tisa in disbelief. Varius went on explaining.

"Tiran is fine. But he is green now."  
Samuel looked at the turian. "He is... _green_." He repeated monotonously.  
"Yep." Confirmed Varius.  
"Nothing serious, he merely complained of a latent itch. Mr. Var, however, was in the infirmary for a week after a moderate poisoning by hanar poison."

Silence. Samuel pondered. He wasn't sure whether he should be angry now, laughing about it, or just keep his composure as he should. He decided to stay calm. But he would definitely talk to those two soon.

"I won't even ask what else happened, or I might leave the Phoenix right now." He sighed.

"Oh, it's been surprisingly quiet for our crew in your absence, Commander. Welcome back aboard." 

Another female voice came forward. Jennifer Sola joined the three. She was followed by a green glowing hanar. 

"Honorable Commander. This person is extremely pleased to see you well again."

The echoing voice of Tiran Suvay was heard. The front part of the gelatinous creature leaned forward and Samuel knew that Tiran was bowing. He gallantly did the same. 

"Thank you, honorable Mr. Suvay."

The hanar straightened up again. He flickered weakly. Dr. Ven'Tisa, who was standing behind Tiran, gestured inconspicuously in the direction of the hanar as she looked at Samuel. He guessed what she wanted to tell him. He would not respond to Suvay's body color. The hanar apologized politely that he had to go back to work, welcomed the commander and then disappeared with Jennifer Sola in the same direction, somewhere inside the ship. Samuel decided not to say another word about Suvay and continued on his way to the captain's quarters. Dr. Ven'Tisa made him promise to stop by her in the infirmary tomorrow night at the latest and disappeared as well. Varius accompanied the commander to the quarters and put the backpack on the table.

"What is the situation with the New Order? Has anything happened in my absence?" Samuel asked the rigger as he went to the terminal and activated it.  
"They are keeping quiet. If you ask me, much too quiet, Commander." Varius replied.

He informed his superior shortly about the current situation. Samuel turned to Varius, leaned against the table, crossed his arms in front of his chest and listened to his explanations. Within a month the New Order had committed various attacks on transport ships. There had been two hostage-takings, one on Kadara and one on Eos. The alliance on Eos was able to end the hostage-taking without bloodshed. On Kadara, however, all but one of the hostages died. 

"Elaaden, Kadara, Eos. They seem to be focused on those planets." Samuel pondered. "Voeld does not seem to interest them. Or..." 

He turned around again and activated the terminal anew. Varius looked at the commander in silence and slowly approached. 

"You have just come from the hospital. Perhaps you should get some rest." He suggested.  
"I have rested long enough, Varius. A whole month out of action is enough for me." Samuel answered and called the Alliance News Network, ANN.  
"You were not operational because you had to save de Kanos and almost died yourself." Snorted Varius.

Samuel paused and raised his head when he heard the rigger speak behind him. He interrupted his research and turned again to look at Varius.

"What are you trying to say?" He asked in a slightly strict, cool tone.

Varius returned his gaze calmly. Inside, however, he was not calm at all. He did not show it yet. But that was only a question of moments. They passed quickly and he finally spoke.

"What I'm trying to say is that you put your life on the line because of one angara you don't even know how he really feels about you. His facial drawings indicate that he was one of the Roekaar, how can you trust someone like that?"

Samuel came so close to Varius that he had to lift his head to look him further into his eyes. The diamonds dug into the glowing rubies of the turian.

"First of all, I don't make any difference who I save, secondly, Professor de Kanos has long since ceased to belong to the Roekaar. And third, when I save someone, Talorian, I don't have to ask for _your_ permission." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "I wouldn‘t have just as easily hesitated with any member of my crew if one of them was in danger. Would you have judged me in the same way? Or are you doing this now because you dislike Professor de Kanos for whatever reason?"

Varius tightened and loosened his mandibles. He wrestled with himself. He toyed with the idea of grabbing his so dismissive commander and throwing him on the bed to make him forget this damned angara once and for all. But he decided to remain calm, especially since Wolfsbane was still much too weakened for some passionate hours. So he finally lowered his gaze and slowly raised both claws before taking a step back. 

"I take back my words, Commander. Sorry for the insolence." He murmured.  
Samuel gazed at him with the stony look of a superior. "You may leave."

Varius left the captain's quarters silently. It was better if he was no longer alone in a room with the one whose affection for a competitor infuriated him. Samuel let him go. He had neither the nerve nor the strength to argue with his rigger or even think about this strange behavior. Instead, he went back to the terminal and went through the news. Hours later he was informed about the current political, military, scientific and social situation in the cluster. He left the Alliance News Network and tapped to the bed where he sat down. To his annoyance, he realized that he was tired just from standing at the terminal reading for so long. A bit sleepy, he called up the crew InfoBoard. He wanted to know what had happened on the Phoenix within that month.


	17. Interlude 4: Crew InfoBoard

Whether or how well Keni'Toras vas Xehala and Tiberius, the "Andromedarian space dachshund", which was a breed of the quarian, had integrated into the daily life of the ship and the existing crew, Samuel had not been able to judge personally in the past days and weeks for understandable reasons. Fortunately, there was a solution. After he had finally been able to leave the hospital of Aya and return to the Phoenix, he had spent a quiet evening - and quiet evenings were given to him anyway - going through the Crew InfoBoard and the internal message board system, which had become part of the internal communication in almost every ship for years. Now, after the long time he had been in a coma, it helped him to find out what had happened. He had known that Dr. Ven'Tisa had informed the crew in writing about his condition, although he would have preferred not to have made such a fuss about it. But he was the commander of the ship. And therefore it was essential to keep the crew up to date.

[Welcome, Commander Wolfsbane]  
[New messages available on the Crew InfoBoard]

From: Samara Wolfsbane  
**Subject: Commander Wolfsbane**  
Dear members of the Phoenix,  
surely you have already received the news that Commander Samuel Wolfsbane suffered a serious breakdown during the mission on Elaaden. I don't want to gloss over anything: his state of health was considered very critical by the doctor of the hospital of Aya and by Dr. Ven'Tisa. The excessive use of his powers in this mission almost had cost him his life. We can only hope and pray that he will get back on his feet. Mr. Savallian also had a breakdown, but is on the road to recovery. Until Commander Wolfsbane is back in action, I will be second in command and Mr. Savallian third in command on the Phoenix.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

>Varius Talorian: our commander better gets fit again...

>>Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa: as soon as something changes in his condition, Emissary Wolfsbane or I will inform you immediately.

>>>Nakmor Trox Ghura: the boy will be fine, damn it!

From: Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa  
**Subject: Commander Wolfsbane**  
Commander Wolfsbane is in a coma. I am in constat conversation with Dr. Tshony ja Varuhn from the Infirmary of Aya. His condition is still very critical. At this time it is not possible to say whether he will survive or not. I will keep you informed.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]  
\--ERROR, comment function blocked--

From: Samara Wolfsbane  
**Subject: New crew member on trial**  
Keni'Toras vas Xehala is our newest member on trial.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Cheen Watts: Welcome to Cheen Watts!

> > Deen Watts: Welcome on Board

> > > Varius Talorian: Welcome.

> > > > Jennifer Sola: Welcome!

>>>>> Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa: Welcome!

> > > > > > Nakmor Trox Ghura: Welcome.

> > > > > > > Patricia Potter: Welcome!

> > > > > > > > Teekoy Var: Yo

>>>>>>>>> Caliria Andrascus: Welcome on board.

>>>>>>>>> Samara Wolfsbane: As far as Mr.Goodwin told me, Keni has no access to the board yet.

>>>>>>>>>>> Jake Goodwin: Correct. I am in the process of setting it up.

From: Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa  
**Subject: Commander Wolfsbane**  
Commander Wolfsbane is still in a coma, but his condition is finally completely stable after three and a half weeks of continuous monitoring and care. Dr. Tshony ja Varuhn informed me that the chances are very good that he will wake up soon. She expects a full recovery.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]  
\--ERROR, comment function blocked--

From: Cheen Watts  
**Subject: Tiberius on the bridge**  
Keni'Toras vas Xehala, please make sure that Tiberius is no longer running around on the bridge. I get sneezing fits.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Jake Goodwin: Cheen, Keni still has no access to the board. Set it up shortly.

> > Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa: I suspect a dog hair allergy. Come see me if it gets worse.

>> > Nakmor Trox Ghura: when will you finally add the missing "K" to my name, Goodwin?

>>>> Jake Goodwin: I'm working on it.

From: Keni'Toras vas Xehala  
**Subject: Hello!**  
Mr. Goodwin has set up access to the InfoBoard for me. I am happy to be a member the Phoenix and hope to be best of service. Thank you for the warm welcome in the previous message.  
\--Main Message End--

From: Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa  
**Subject: Commander Wolfsbane**  
Commander Wolfsbane has awakened from his coma. He is still very weak, but his condition is stable. Due to rehabilitation measures he will only be able to perform his duties to a very limited extent in the coming weeks. Please continue to contact Samara Wolfsbane and Thantos Savallian for any concerns.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]  
\--ERROR, comment function blocked--

From: Keni'Toras vas Xehala  
**Subject: Party for Commander Wolfsbane**  
Hello everybody, I am so glad that our commander is feeling better again. What do you think about organizing a surprise party for him as soon as he is fit enough?  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

>Samara Wolfsbane: great idea! But now it is no longer a surprise, because the Commander can see the InfoBoard.

>>Varius Talorian: I am absolutely for it.

>>> Nakmor Trox Ghura: me too!

>>>>Jake Goodwin: dito

>>>>>Patricia Potter: absolutely!

>>>>>>Tiran Suvay: this person is open to the proposal.

>>>>>>Deen Watts: Cheen and I are happy to help!

>>>>>>>>Teekoy Var: of course!

>>>>>>>>>Caliria Andrascus: for it.

>>>>>>>>>>Thantos Savallian: if this party is celebrated in moderation, yes.

>>>>>>>>>>>>Teekoy Var: we will not persuade him to drink to coma.

>>>>>>>>>>>Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa: that was not funny, Mr. Var!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Teekoy Var: sorry.

From: Patricia Potter  
**Subject: Disappeared socks**  
Has anyone seen my socks? This is not about a single pair, within the last weeks almost all but two pairs of socks disappeared. I don't want to suspect anybody, I just ask to put the socks back in my compartment in the laundry room.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Nakmor Trox Ghura: asked the dachshund?

> > Patricia Potter: AsI said, I don't want to suspect anybody.

> > > Teekoy Var: I don't have it. Ask Suvay if he knits you any.

>> >> Tiran Suvay: it would be a pleasure for this one.

>>>> Patricia Potter: thanks, Mr. Suvay, come back to you if the socks stay missing.

From: Teekoy Var  
**Subject: Missing tools**  
Has anyone seen my toolbox? I've been missing it since yesterday.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Varius Talorian: I am also missing some tools for building drones.

> > Teekoy Var: has reappeared again.

> > > Keni'Toras vas Xehala: I'm sorry, I took the case and the overclocker from Mr. Talorian, I'll put everything back in its place!

From: Deen Watts  
**Subject: modified shower ?**  
This morning I almost got cooked. The water is insanely hot, Mr. Var, Mr. Suvay, please check the generators. And since when is it possible to adjust the shower functions to give you drizzle? And since when has the shower head had color play?  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Keni'Toras vas Xehala: oh, that was me I hope that no one is bothered by that.

> > Deen Watts: bothered? This is awesome! But the water is way too hot.

>> > Keni'Toras vas Xehala: fixed it!

>> > > Varius Talorian: got to admit, it has something.

>>>> Samara Wolfsbane: yes, very nice!

>> >> > Jake Goodwin: nice!

From: Tiran Suvay  
**Subject: carrying aid**  
This person would like to point out that Tiberius made himself extremely useful by carrying the tools and purchases that this person could not carry in his side pockets and taking them all the way to the maintenance room. This person would like to thank Tiberius for this, but would like to point out politely that hanar tentacles are not chewing toys.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Keni'Toras vas Xehala: sorry about the chewing I will tell Tiberius not to do that. But he will be happy to help you again.

> > Nakmor Trox Ghurak: has a strong bite, the short-legged one. Saved me the trouble of fetching the cutting tool. 

>>>Caliria Adracus: gotta ask: HOW intelligent ist Tiberius actually?

>>>>Keni'Toras vas Xehala: Tiberius has a average intelligence of modificated octopus.

>>>>Caliria Adracus: okay……

>>>>>Keni'Toras vas Xehala: this means that he is able to understand spoken sentences and their meaning, follow commands and draw his own semi-logical conclusions.

>>>>>>Jennifer Sola: very interesting and fascinating indeed!

From: Caliria Andrascus:  
**Subject: drone found**  
Is anyone missing a mini drone? It is stuck to the ceiling in the armory and cannot be released.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Varius Talorian: I miss none.

> > Jake Goodwin: nope.

>> > Keni'Toras vas Xehala: that could be mine, I was looking for it. This is a storm drone that can withstand all weather conditions and can be used multifunctional.

>>>>> Caliria Andrascus: it plays music...

>>>>>> Keni'Toras vas Xehala: yes, so I can find it better. Actually.

From: Samara Wolfsbane  
**Subject: Weird flowers**  
Whoever was kind enough to put flowers in my quarters, thank you. However, I did pass the flowers to Dr. Ven'Tisa, who isolated them. The flowers gave off a strange scent.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa: my research has shown that this plant emits pheromones that can have a stimulating or even aphrodisiac effect.

> > Keni'Toras vas Xehala: I'm sorry! I put the wrong flowers in the wrong quarters. Actually, I was planning to put a strain that improves sleep in Commander Wolfsbane's quarters. I am very sorry!

>> > Varius Talorian: I'll drop by your place, Keni.

>> >> Jake Goodwin: me too! :D 

>>>>> Samara Wolfsbane: Keni, please remove this plant from the ship at the next opportunity!

From: Jennifer Sola:  
**Subject: Found: various items**  
Someone on board was looking for socks a few weeks ago? I found them by chance in the corner between the sofas on the entertainment deck. There were 12 pairs. There was also a brush, a neck pillow, a coffee cup and a kind of white wooden fan with very, VERY sharp metal edges.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

>Patricia Potter: I was looking for the socks, thank you ! Pick them up as soon as I can.

>>Thantos Savallian: I‘m gonna pick up the fan ...

From: Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa  
**Subject: Half-yearly medical examination**  
The half-yearly medical examination is pending. Please do not forget to come to my clinic in the next two weeks. This applies to ALL crew members. Also for Nakmor Trox Ghurak, Varius Talorian and **especially** for Commander Wolfsbane.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Keni'Toras vas Xehala: should Tiberius also come for the examination?

>>Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa: I am not a veterinarian, but I will have a look at him.

From: Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa  
**Subject: Plant and animal toxins in circulation**  
I hereby inform the entire crew of the Phoenix that the substances developed and researched by Ms. Keni'Toras vas Xehala are NOT intended for private experiments. As the recent events involving Mr. Teekoy Var and Mr. Tiran Suvay have been very critical, any crew member who is NOT working in the medical or scientific field is hereby DISCLAIMED from accessing or handling the substances. Ms. vas Xehala please keep your substances under lock and key and do not release them in the future. Thank you.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]  
\--ERROR, comment function blocked--

From: Jake Goodwin  
**Subject: Does anyone want to play a round of poker?**  
Tonight, on the entertainment deck, is also quite harmless poker, not strip poker.  
\--Main Message End--

[Comments]

> Varius Talorian: too bad.

> > Patricia Potter: You just want our Commander to lose, Talorian.

>> > Varius Talorian: he plays along?

>>>> Jake Goodwin: hardly, he's still recovering and needs to be left alone. So far Keni and Caliria have come forward.

From: Thantos Savallian  
**Subject: Tiberius**  
Dear Miss vas Xehala, please try to make Tiberius understand that he cannot expect any caresses from me and Commander Wolfsbane during meditation. 

> Keni'Toras vas Xehala: Dear Mr. Savallian, I'm sorry, I'll tell Tiberius.

It seemed that after some initial difficulties, Keni was integrating well into the crew. Even if he would prefer Keni would not grow her strange plants on the ship. They seemed more dangerous than expected. He hoped that especially this flower, whose scent was supposedly aphrodisiac, had gone off board.

Samuel closed the InfoBoard an chuckled slightly. Some messages really were amusing. The news that had affected him personally, however, had made him pensive. He now had an idea of how Samara and Thantos must have felt. And he was sorry. But should he have reacted differently on Elaaden? Could he have reacted differently? Professor Saraan de Kanos would have died without him. Samuel remembered saying to Saraan that he would do it again anytime. And he would. Even for his crew. After the first phase of recovery, it was now time for him to see what his crew was up to. Dr. Ven'Tisa would hopefully not go off the deep end just because he was walking around the ship visiting everybody.


	18. Chapter 13: Love-locked Turians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varius hardly can think of anything else but his beloved commander. He cannot bear the thought Wolfsbane might be in love with the angaran professor. In the techlab they are alone together.
> 
>  **WARNING!** Mature content. Sex scene ahead.

Varius Talorian had been remarkably quiet in the past days. Samuel was, if he was honest, glad if he didn't have too much to do with the rigger at the moment. Because even if Varius was quiet, you could almost smell his bad mood. Some days before the "surprise party", which Keni diligently organized, Samuel visited Varius at the techlab. The rigger had asked him to come and the commander had complied with his request. He guessed what it was all about. 

Dr. Ven'Tisa had asked him to come to the med bay a few days earlier and talked to him about how risky the use of his ki powers was each time. She had made it clear to him that the use of his powers on Elaaden had weakened him so much that another use in the next three months could be fatal for him. It would probably kill him even. A message that had been anything but pleasant. To prevent this deadly risk, she had proposed to develop an implant together with Varius, which suppressed the ki powers, but limited the commander as little as possible. She was well aware of the problem of immune rejection of any cyber- and bioware in awakened persons. But Dr. Ven'Tisa felt it was essential to develop this implant and at least make an attempt. Samuel, of course, had initially been absolutely against it. The immune rejection alone was one reason. 

“That is why the implant would have to be developed with great care.” Dr. Ven'Tisa had told him and therefore Samuel had given her a DNA sample. She then had worked together with Varius on the manufacture of the implant. A prototype had been completed this evening.

Varius kept the prototype in an airtight small box under lock and key. The implant was very small, smaller than a quarter of a human fingernail and thinner than a human hair. With a magnifying glass one could see details. Samuel stood in front of the box and looked at the thing skeptically.

"As you know, Dr. Ven'Tisa and I discussed whether it would make sense to put an implant in you that would temporarily block your powers.” Explained Varius. "This implant is almost ready for use. I am still waiting for the results of Dr. Ven'Tisa's immune tests. Depending on how strong the reactions are, I will make some more calibrations.”

"There will definitely be reactions. Awakened people are not made to wear any kind of ware. However, I understand the concerns if I am not wearing this implant. Even though I think Dr. Ven'Tisa exaggerates by saying that the use of even the weakest ki power out of pure habit in training would kill me.” 

Samuel replied and watched Varius take some measurements on the implant with his specialized omnitool. 

"Better to believe her than to risk it, right?" Said Varius and completed the scanning procedure. He looked at Samuel. "You still look tired and weakened." He noted.  
"It's possible. But I'm on the road to recovery. I should be able to undertake small observational missions again." Samuel replied.  
"You won't be allowed on any missions for the next few weeks, Commander. APEX has placed you on temporary leave."  
Samuel snorted sullenly. "This is bullshit. In the shadows back then, nobody cared and I was back on my feet in no time."  
"Yes, but that was in the Milky Way and I assume your powers weren't so strong then." Countered Varius.

Samuel looked at him grumpy. Varius returned his look calmly and sighed.

"Commander, the crew, everyone knows that your heart is in it when it comes to important matters. But here in Andromeda the clocks obviously tick differently. At least for you. You did hear Ven'Tisa back then. No other adept has developed their powers as massively as you have. But no one suffers such a deprivation as you do." He said.  
Samuel sighed as well. "I wonder why. I'm not the only damn adept in this galaxy."  
"Not the only one. But unique, in a way." Varius tilted his head slightly and added with a thin smile: "You are unique to me anyway."

Samuel gave him a disparaging look. "You’ll never stop, do you?"  
"Hitting on you? Why should I?" Varius replied. Amusement paired with a hint of annoyance now resonated in the flanging voice as he continued to speak: "especially not now that this angara is constantly making eyes at you.”

Samuel's expression now became slightly angry. He had hoped that he could avoid this topic. But that had obviously been too much to ask.

"What's going on with you these days, Talorian? You're doing your job properly, but otherwise you're spreading a whim that even Trox wants to escape." Snorted Samuel.  
"So what?" Replied Varius.  
"So what? Do you find this professional? You behave like a..."

Varius suddenly built up directly in front of Samuel, so that he had to look up. "Like a - what?" he growled softly.

Samuel was not intimidated in the least by this action and did not back away a millimeter. "Like a pubescent turian in his mating season!" 

For a few moments it seemed as if time itself had stopped. Samuel's words faded in space. At some point he perceived a strange tension in the room. He recognized this tension. This mixture of anger and excitement. It emanated mainly from Varius. It was perhaps better to go now before this tension also spread to him. It had been felt again and again in the past months and had led to precarious situations several times. 

Varius growled softly and fixed the commander. This look was unpleasant, yet Samuel did not move. 

"Perhaps because it is such a similar situation. My sweet Commander." Varius spoke in a dark, tempting tone, which caused Samuel to be nervous, but at the same time defiant.

"Don't call me that." Samuel said unnerved.

This guy made him uncomfortable. He did not want to show any weakness now. He was weak enough. But he also wanted to escape this atmosphere. However, he was dealing with a turian, the species in the Milky Way that was known as the one that not only fought wars, but won them. The one that could conquer and dominate and which, although not as imposing as krogans, could be very warlike and frightening. Samuel decided to ignore all these aspects. He had to get out of here. Now. The air in the techlab suddenly seemed to have become thick for cutting.

"I better get out of here now." He spoke coolly and wanted to move past Varius, towards the door of the lab.  
But he stopped him with a simple arm movement and caught him with a claw.  
"I do not think so." He replied in a playful, but at the same time warning tone.

Samuel pushed Varius' arm away from him and walked past him. 

"Stop playing games. Seriously, it is time to return to the Nexus. You can cool off there."

Varius stopped for a moment. He briefly observed Samuel, who wondered what was going on in the head of his rigger. He received the answer, promptly, when Varius suddenly grabbed him and lifted him over his shoulder. 

"What the-...Talorian!!" Samuel shouted in surprise.  
"Cool off, ts, sounds like a good plan." Grunted Varius.

He went to the bed, which was here in the techlab, because the rigger did not sleep in the crew's quarters. There he dropped him on the bed and climbed over him. He reached for the elf's wrists, pulled his arms over his head and held them tight with a claw. Samuel looked at him in disbelief. 

"What is this crap, Talorian? What's your fucking problem?" He hissed. 

"What's my problem? I haven't been able to touch you for a month." Varius replied unnerved. He bent to his right ear and whispered in: "or hear your aroused voice."  
"Have you gone completely mad? Let go immediately... damn it!" 

Samuel wanted to free himself and felt that his body did not have the strength to do so. Damn it! Samuel cursed his body for being so weak. The attempt to free himself, the tensing of the arm muscles, the winding exhausted him terribly quickly. He had no chance against Varius' physical strength.

"I only damn this angara. You are so weakened because of him. You almost died because of him. And yet you look at him so much in love. I will not stand for it any longer!" 

Samuel froze for a moment. He looked at Saraan in love? 

"I... am not in love with him!" He protested.  
"I hope so." Murmurred the turian, who held him tighter.  
"And even if I was, so... "  
"No." Varius cut off his word. "He will not have you!" He breathed.  
“Talorian! You damn gimp!”

Varius ran his tongue over the edge of the elf's ear and then bent towards the commander's forehead to lean his against it. He closed his eyes and sucked the air in deeply, giving a yearning sigh, while Samuel below him was still trying to get free. He would by no means cry for help. That was beneath his dignity. Even Varius knew that.

"Mmmh. Why...are you so dismissive when I can clearly smell that you like me?"

Samuel paused for a moment. He was confused. Varius _smelled_ it? What was he talking about? 

"Let me go, Talorian, or I will have you expelled from this ship!" Samuel threatened him.

Indeed, the rigger paused for a moment and looked at the commander's angry eyes. Varius' look seemed thoughtful.

"Why do you only speak the opposite of what your body expresses?" He asked quietly. "You always restrain yourself. Let me loosen those strains. I know... what you need."

The free claw had set out on its journey and moved over the chest of the slender, muscular body, uninhibitedly deeper over the belly and reached between Samuel's legs, where it began to caress him dearly.

"What are you talking about...ah..d-don’t...!" Samuel gasped in shock and excitement.

This could not be true! Samuel had the feeling he was still in a coma and experiencing an utmost strange erotic dream. But this was not so. Varius moved his lips to those of Samuel in an attempt to kiss him. But Samuel turned his head. The turian grinned.

"How I have missed this." He purred as he continued to try to arouse the other man.  
"No! Stop... it!" Gasped Samuel.  
"If you give me a kiss, I might stop." Purred Varius amused.  
"Forget it!” Hissed Samuel. "Damn you, Talorian.”

Samuel writhed and tugged at the grip of the claw. But the claw held his wrists tight as in a vice. Varius smiled darkly. He did not want to take his time. Although it was quiet on the ship, he knew that this could change all the time. So he dipped his claw under the fabric of the commander’s trousers and underwear and grabbed the previously only weakly erect penis before he began to massage it vigorously. Samuel gave a quiet, surprised groan. 

"Gnnhh...shit...!" Samuel gasped and clenched his teeth. He felt the heat shoot into his cheeks.

Varius felt in his claw how the massaging quickly showed success and whispered excitedly. Satisfied, he watched every movement in the white-haired man's beautiful face and as he tried to keep control, but lust gradually enthralled him more and more. He leaned to him and began to caress his jaws and neck carefully with the horn lips and the long tongue.

"Mmh, always sweet how you try to resist, Commander. Although your body...wants something else." Varius whispered to him.

Samuel closed his eyes gasping and suppressed another groan. He gritted his teeth and tried to fight down the lust. Damn that turian bastard! Why did he always manage to overpower him? And why did he get so excited when Varius was so impetuous? 

"Ah...stop...please..." He groaned hoarsely.  
"I don't think that... you really want me to." Varius replied gently.

He did not even think of stopping. Not now when he saw that his efforts were bearing fruit. The tension in the room had completely taken possession of him. And of Samuel. He could counter the caresses less and less. Fuck, no, he did not want to give his lecherous rigger this triumph! He didn’t want this! 

“S..stop it….!” Samuel gasped again.

The lust that had taken possession of him was clearly audible in his voice. His body wanted it. More and more. 

“You do not have to hold back. You won't be able to do that for much longer anyway, pretty boy.” Varius purred in amusement.

The rapid up and down movements stimulated him extremely, until finally his resistance broke and the lust clouded his mind. Moaning, he stretched his neck and dug the back of his head into the pillow. The resistance decreased significantly. Varius took note of this with great pleasure. _At last_ , he thought. What a pleasure it was to fight this battle and tame his stubborn commander.

He nestled himself closely to the body of the elf who was captivated by desire. He finally dared to let go of Samuel's wrists and moved into a more comfortable position. The commander writhed under the lust that dominated his body. Varius watched him. He loved this sight so much. He wanted to take possession of him, but that would probably be too demanding for the beautiful body, wouldn’t it? It was difficult for him to hold back. Fucking difficult! He growled excitedly.

"Mmm, damn..."

Varius let go of Samuel's hard member and grabbed him by the hip, so that the well-formed butt lay on the lap of the turian. Quickly he pulled Samuels and his trousers down. He was so incredibly aroused. He wanted him so much that it almost hurt. 

"I'm..sorry, I can't give you much preparation, my sweet Commander." He gasped while using the precum as a lubricant. 

He firmly grabbed Samuel by the hip and pressed himself against him. Then he penetrated him, panting softly. With the other claw, he quickly moved under the elf's neck and pressed it onto his mouth, pressing the back of Samuel's head against his chest. Samuel gave a suppressed moan of pain as Varius entered him. He could clearly feel the commander tense up.

"Shsh, it... will be more comfortable in a moment." He whispered breathlessly to him. 

He paused for a few moments so that Samuel could get used to it at least a little before he began to move his hips and slowly push into him at first. It felt great. So tight, so hot, so exciting. He moaned softly and closed his eyes.

"Hnn, Commander...!"

Samuel actually tried to free himself once more, as the pain for the moment was greater than his pleasure. Varius, however, held on to him.

"Try...to relax. Let me help you." He whispered.

The claw on Samuel's hip moved back to the hard penis and grabbed it, starting to massage him again intensively. At the same time, he began to push harder into him and moaned softly. He had to control himself not to dig his pointed fangs into the other man's shoulder. That would cause a nasty injury as his crush was no turian. After endless minutes his movements became more passionate as he heard in the excited voice of Samuel that he was finally close to climax. He would let him come immediately this time even though the last time he had enjoyed torturing him and hearing him beg. He let his tongue wander across the neck of the elf. His skin was hot and tasted slightly salty. This was normal for this species, as he knew. And very erotic at the moment.

"Come... come, my sweetheart..." He gasped in Samuel’s pointed ear.

Varius' thrusts still hurt slightly, but at the same time it felt so good. Samuel was intensely aroused by these whispered words. He felt the climax approaching and groaned under the claw. Craving he pressed himself against the body of the turian, who pushed hard into him, massaging him powerfully. He grabbed Varius' neck with the hand of the arm that was not on the bed, to hold on tightly, moaning in pleasure.

"Mmh, come...yes...!" He heard Varius' voice filled with lust.

At the same moment Samuel was flooded by an orgasm that completely torn him away. He came hard and felt Varius pouring hot into him at the same time with a suppressed groan. He trembled and shivered deeply. The climax ran irrepressibly through his body while his mind completely evaporated in these indescribable moments. He was powerless against this feeling. It felt so good.

The climax slowly ebbed. Samuel could feel his muscles trembling in his arms, thighs, and flanks. They were overstimulated. Like lead there was an exhaustion he had never experienced before after sex. He remained lying quietly panting in Varius' arms, who pulled him close and held him tight. 

Varius closed his eyes. He could feel the human heartbeat. He deeply inhaled the smell of this beloved human. How much he had missed this. How much he had missed holding this man and making him moan. To hear his voice, to feel his body, heated with lust, close to his own. By now it was more than just pure physical desire. He was close to love-lock. He wanted him for himself. Only for himself! And he smelled that his unruly beauty wanted him just the same, even if he resisted. This cursed angara would not take Wolfsbane away from him. He would fight for him. In all persistence. If it was necessary he would duel de Kanos in the old traditional turian way, even if it meant a fight to the death. Turians were predators. For that reason he pressed him a little harder. Samuel gave a soft groan. The pressing made him wake up again.

"I hate you..." He whispered faintly.  
"Mmm, no, you don't. On the contrary." Varius replied relaxed.

On the contrary? Samuel opened his eyes. And Varius felt Samuel trying to detach himself from him. The turian murmured reluctantly but let him go.

"There is no contrary!" Said Samuel and pushed Varius' arm away. He was still trembling.

Varius propped himself up and bent over the elf. In Samuel's bright, almost snow-white eyes shimmered the dullness of the afterglow. He could also find anger and defiance in them.

"Let me go at last, Talorian." He demanded.  
"Whenever you are angry with me, you use my last name." The rigger smiled.  
" **I am** fucking angry with you! What in the name of three gods is going on inside your head?" Samuel growled, but then shook his head and sat up. His arms trembled so much. "You know what? Nevermind, I don't want to know."

Varius watched him as he went into a sitting position, making himself kneel.

"You want to know what’s going on in my head? Besides the work on the ship as a rigger, the missions, my activity as an APEX sniper and what is going on in the galaxy? **You**. And since the night after Trox's birthday, you've been on my mind a lot more." He answered without shyness.

Samuel pulled his pants up. He would wash them and the underwear later. And he definitely had to take a shower. He wanted to get up, but he didn't feel up to it. So he was forced to keep on discussing with Varius.

"I will never touch this Ryncol again. And better yet, no more alcohol when you're around." He said.  
"I don't need alcohol to seduce you, Commander." Returned Varius confident. 

Another touch of anger overwhelmed Samuel and he grabbed Varius by the front edge of his bone armor. The grip was hardly worth mentioning, but Samuel didn't care.

"Arrogant bugger. What the fuck are you thinking?" He hissed at him.

Varius looked at him and did not answer. Instead, he lifted his claws, put them around the wrists of the human and took his hands off his armor collar. He held Samuel's wrists tight. Samuel stared at him angrily. The turian suddenly bent over to him and pressed his horn lips against those of the commander. Samuel stiffened, Varius felt that he was trying to free himself. When he did not succeed, Samuel pulled his head away to the side. Thereby he scraped his upper lip on the horny edges of the mandibles. He hissed softly. Varius let him go and Samuel retreated. When Varius noticed the injury, he lifted a claw and wanted to wipe away the blood. But Samuel knocked the claw away with a martial arts block movement.

" **Don't** touch me. Don't you dare ever touch me again, understand?" He spoke coldly.

Varius wanted to reply. But when he saw this almost hateful and disgusted expression on his commander's face, he remained silent and lowered his head.

Even though he was still trembling, Samuel climbed off the bed and stood up. Varius let him go. He stared into space for a few seconds while he heard the commander behind him walking through the room. A moment later the door’s significant moving sound was heard. Samuel could still move as silently as a waft of mist, even when he was weakened. Varius turned his head and looked behind him to get confirmation that Samuel had disappeared. Sighing, he let himself fall on the bed and buried his face in the pillow. He couldn't just stop touching him. He was in love with this human. And he wanted him to belong to him. What could he do? Maybe it was time to get advice from his peers. Old acquaintances from the time when he was involved in illegal business as member of the most powerful gangs and the scourge of Omega: Ecplise. Many had not survived. But he still knew a few who were alive. And he knew where to find them.


	19. Chapter 14: Zaubray System Incident or: daring dachshund

Even though Commander Wolfsbane was not officially allowed to access APEX missions temporarily due to his health condition, there were still missions with a very low or no risk. And most of them did not appear on the APEX index which Samuel studied regularly and updated the mission logs.

Despite all the circumstances and events, Samuel had not forgotten that there were crew-internal requests that could be followed up without the risk of losing life. It was these internal missions that saved him from being constantly followed by Dr. Ven'Tisa and Emissary Wolfsbane, who were swarming around him like clucking hens and, most importantly, kept him from destroying anything on the ship. Trox Ghurak had informed the commander just over a month and a half ago that an order of Ryncol schnapps and "excellent cooking ingredients" had been lost in the Zaubray System. Samuel had then instructed Deen Watts to scan the system at the next opportunity. Unfortunately nothing had been detected during the first flight and APEX had at the same time had called the Shadow Team for a mission. Samuel had apologized to Trox when there was no more time to investigate. Now another shipment had disappeared in the same system. Samuel immediately investigated the matter and had Deen scan again. And this time he found something when a distress signal reached the Phoenix. He discovered a small Nexus transporter drifting in orbit. 

"Commander, the transporter has been floating in orbit there for at least three days. The engines are completely damaged. It's a wonder the ship didn't explode. Noting a heavy aft impact at the fusion drive core." Deen Watts informed.  
"Can you pick up life signs?" Samuel asked.  
"Positive. Three life signs detected. No contact has been made except for the distress signal."  
"Cheen, bring the Phoenix closer and prepare for docking maneuver." Ordered Samuel. "Trox, Potter, we're going in. Sola, I need you in case there are injured to be treated."

The crew confirmed and prepared themselves. The whole thing would probably be a rescue mission. Samuel estimated the danger to be very small. Nevertheless, he put on the obligatory armor and took two submachine guns. After the docking maneuver was completed, the squad went through the airlock over to the transporter. The energy supply of the small ship ran only on the miserable remains of the emergency generator. The door could only be opened by bridging, which fortunately was easy. The interior of the transporter was bathed in a dull red light. And it was dead quiet. Samuel went ahead. He held one of the two M-4 Shuriken in his hand and secured to the front. Trox went as tail light and secured to the rear. 

The ship was quickly scoured. Two humans were found in the hold, a woman and an injured man, who Sola took care of immediately. The man had looked more like a synthetic creature than a human. Both arms had been replaced by cyber arms, he had several data sockets on his head and neck and Samuel could imagine that this was not the only thing that was synthetic about him. He probably was a street samurai. This was some kind of fighter who specialized in physical combat. They were often heavily augmented with cyberware and/or bioware to enhance their combat prowess and carry a variety of weapons to deal with any threat their groups encounter. In short this guy was the exact opposite from Samuel.

The woman next to him had a single data socket on her left temple and when one looked into her eyes you could see that distinctive synthetic glowing only cyber eyes have. Samuel spotted the pilot, another human female, in the cockpit and released her from the seat. She was unconscious, but that was because she was plugged into the seat. Apparently a rigger. After he had carefully freed her, she regained consciousness. It was strange, however, that she had been sitting here and had had contact with the ship, although it was not airworthy. There was no trace of the cargo. The three rescued humans were immediately taken to the Med Bay to Dr. Ven'Tisa after a medical scan by Sola for contagious diseases and were given medical treatment.

Samuel went to the Med Bay after Dr. Ven'Tisa informed him that the humans were in good condition and able to talk. The man was lying next to the two women on one of the hospital beds, connected to the many medical devices and staring at the ceiling. His wounds had been treated. Samuel came to the sickbed and looked at him. He must have been in his mid to late forties, had a full beard and curly hair. Judging by the color of his skin and hair, pale skin, reddish hair, he must have come from the north of Great Britain. He turned his head and looked at the commander. He faltered, blinked and pulled his bushy eyebrows together. 

"Hmm, an elf? Haven't seen one for ages." He murmured.  
"I am Commander Samuel Wolfsbane. You are on board the Phoenix, the ship of the human emissariy. Who are you?“ Samuel said.  
"John O'Connor. I work as a medical assistant and mercenary, responsible for the safe passage of medical supplies from the Nexus to Elaaden."

Medical assistant and mercenary. How would that fit together? Samuel did not ask this question at first.

"Tell me what happened. What do you remember, Mr. Connor?"

John O'Connor told him about a New Order raid. A ship of this terrorist organization had lured them into a trap by sending a false distress signal. They had opened fired upon as soon as the transporter came within range of the ship's guns. After the transporter was disabled, the Order had threatened to destroy the ship completely if they were not allowed to enter. The three had given in in the face of the danger of death. Five members of the Order had stormed the airlock and then the cargo hold. It had become very crowded on board for a short time. O'Connor said he had tried to protect the women and had been wounded by a gunshot. The New Order had seized all the cargo and left them with very little water and the remaining power from the emergency generator that they had used to send out the distress signal.

"We will take you to the Nexus as soon as possible. There you and your colleagues will be adequately cared for." Samuel said.  
"Thank you. I'd like to inform my employer that I'm still alive, if possible. If you could provide me with an omnitool or allow me access to the meeting room." O'Connor asked.

Samuel authorized the medical assistant and mercenary to enter the meeting room and let him open a channel. O'Connor typed a message into the terminal and sent it. Shortly after, a figure on the holo platform flickered up. It was a salarian wearing armor. Since the hologram did not transfer any colors, it was not possible to determine which group he belonged to. The salarian saw O'Connor, then his gaze wandered to Samuel, who stood by the entrance with his arms crossed over his chest. Turning back to the human, the salarian now spoke.

"Mr. O'Connor. I am glad to see you are still alive."  
"Thank you, Mr. Shade. Unfortunately, all our cargo was stolen by the New Order." 

Samuel watched them and kept quiet. The salarian, who had been addressed by O'Connor with "Mr. Shade" - ndoubtedly an alias and aroused the old shadowrunner paranoia within him. 

"That is unfortunate. The New Order is gaining more and more power through these attacks. Several transporters have already been attacked in this system. All the cargo was stolen. Where are you now, Mr. O'Connor? And how are Romanova and Carey?"  
"I am on board the Phoenix. It is a vessel of a human emissary. Romanova and Carey have survived but are still unconscious." Specified O'Connor.  
"I see." Replied Mr. Shade.

Samuel now stepped to the communications table and crossed his hands behind his back. He was wearing his uniform, which identified him as captain and commander of this ship. Mr. Shade looked at him briefly and, as O'Connor had said before:

"An elf? A very rare sight."

Samuel introduced himself with rank and name and did not go into further detail on the remark. It belonged to the category of remarks, with which he could buy his own ship in the meantime, if he would get a credit for it every time he heard such words. Another remark from this category was: "with swords you don't stand a chance in battle" or, more rarely, "you are a drell slave?“ This question he abhorred.

"Mr. Shade, we were able to save your man and the two women, the pilot and the co-pilot. We will be taking them to the Nexus as our supply capacities are limited." Samuel said.  
"I thank you for your efforts, Commander Wolfsbane. However, the transfer will not be necessary, we will meet you halfway and take the gentleman and the ladies from you." Said Mr. Shade.

At that moment, a message from Dr. Ven'Tisa Samuel's omnitool reached Samuel's office: "Commander, the two women are worse. My ability to care for them here on board is limited."

Samuel listened to the message and turned back to the salarian. "All right, Mr. Shade. Can you make it to Eos? We will take the two women to Prodromos. You can meet them there as soon as they are better."

The salarian thought for a moment and then said, "All right. We will leave as soon as we can."

O'Connor addressed Samuel: "Commander Wolfsbane, may I have a moment alone with Mr. Shade? It's about job details that only concern me and him. If you understand."

Samuel still sensed the old paranoia, but granted O'Connor a short talk. After O'Connor was brought back to the infirmary, Samuel instructed his pilots to make a hyperspace jump into the Pytheas system to fly to Eos. A few minutes later, the Phoenix flinched through orbit within moments and was gone.

"Pytheas system reached. Now heading for Eos." Was it from Cheen Watts.  
About two minutes later Deen Watts reported to Samuel: "Commander, unknown ship on radar with direct course to the Phoenix.“

Samuel, who was on his way to the bridge anyway, quickened his pace and shortly after stepped through the door to the salarian twins. He could already see the strange ship through the glass front of the Phoenix. That was very alarming. Deen Watts was in the process of contacting the ship repeatedly and requested a course change, otherwise there was a danger of collision, but received no response. Samuel tried to identify the ship type. It could be a Corvette.

"Deen, did you find out who that is?" He wanted to know.  
"Negative, signature suppressed. Grouping can only be determined by direct vision." The salarian replied, typing away on his terminal.

Cheen Watts tried in vain to make contact. Signature suppressed? The old familiar voice reappeared.

"Raise shields!" Samuel commanded. 

Deen responded immediately. The order came not a second too soon. Suddenly, the alien ship fired. There were several mild tremors, but the shields held. They shimmered brightly as the projectiles bounced off them. 

"Return fire!" Cried Samuel.  
"Negative, Commander, we're not cleared to fire." Deen said.  
"What the hell are you talking about?"  
"We've been fucking hacked!" Jake Goodwin's voice suddenly hissed through the speakers across the bridge.

Samuel suddenly had a bitter presentiment. He turned around and left the bridge to run towards the infirmary. Then he heard shots and paused for a moment. There was a commotion and for a moment the entire ship was plunged into darkness before the emergency lights flashed. The alarm sirens started to howl.

"Commander, docking procedure at airlock registered!" Deen shouted through the speakers.

"Trox, Varius, Caliria, secure the airlock immediately! Thantos, Potter, Keni, protect the Emissary! Emissary, stay in your quarters! Mr. Survay, Teekoy, to the canons!" Samuel roared through the ship as he hurried to the Armory to get a weapon and then ran to the infirmary. 

Amongst himself, he noticed stomping. His crew was on high alert. He reached the infirmary and faltered when he saw Jennifer Sola and Dr. Ven'Tisa lying motionless on the floor. There was no trace of the two human women. Also O'Connor was nowhere to be seen. Then shots came up to him. The airlock below had been opened, apparently the alien ship had docked and sent people. Samuel knelt down to the two women lying on the ground and checked their vital signs. They were alive. Jennifer Sola was already awake again. She had obviously been knocked down. Samuel made sure she was okay and told her to look after Dr. Ven'Tisa. Then he jumped up and ran towards Cargo Bay. A feeling carried him there. It had not deceived him. In the Cargo Bay he found O'Connor and one of the two women. They fired as soon as they saw him. Samuel took cover behind the bulletproof and fireproof P-Mako and began a firefight with the two of them.

"Varius, I need you here at Cargo Bay! Come from above and aim well!" He shouted into the microphone.

About twenty seconds later Samuel could see the woman looking up. How she wanted to scream and then fell to the ground with a clean shot between the eyes. O'Connor recoiled and dived behind one of the pillars of the room. He was out of sight of Varius, but now Samuel jumped out of his cover as quick as an arrow and flew across the room. He was still not faster than the bullet that came towards him. It grazed his shoulder. He hissed painfully and took cover. 

"The rat‘s hiding to well." He heard Varius growl.

Another Shooting. O'Connor didn't know which way to aim. Varius kept him busy and made sure he stayed under cover. Samuel sneaked up on the redhead and pulled a combat knife out of a leg holder at his left thigh. He suddenly appeared behind O‘Conner, silent as a shadow. O'Connor didn't even notice him. He looked around and even lowered his gun, thinking he was safe. Then Samuel grabbed him by his red hair, tore his head back and slit his throat. Gurgling the man went down to the ground and remained lying there twitching. Samuel came out from behind the pillar and examined the wound. It was no longer worth mentioning. He looked up at Varius. He returned his gaze. Then they heard shots again.

"Go to the airlock!" Samuel ordered. The sniper disappeared and Samuel ran off, too.

He was almost crushed by the closing door that lead out of the Cargo Bay. He barely managed to escape from the room, but now he was stuck in the plenum. The voice of the ship's computer sounded. The ship's drive core was threatening to overheat. The Watts twins had lost complete control of the ship. Suddenly, the icon of a blue butterfly appeared all over the screens. Then a female voice came up:

"Dear crew of the Phoenix. You have been hacked by Butterfly. She sends a friendly greeting from the New Order. We will now kill you all and commandeer your ship, thank you very much."

Samuel could hear shots again. The roar of a krogan. Apparently Trox had gone into close combat. And he was stuck in here.

"Goodwin!" He shouted.  
"This butterfly's got the whole ship under control, I'm going in hot, matrix combat compulsory!" The Decker answered. "You just wait, bitch, nobody takes over my ship!"  
„Be careful, Goodwin!“ Samuel said.

Now the lights started to go crazy. They flickered, the alarm went on and off. Several times one had the feeling that the ship was losing its stability in orbit. The door in front of him opened. Samuel immediately jumped through before it closed again. He ran on and arrived at the airlock. There were three dead bodies lying there. Fortunately, none of his men. Trox and Caliria and were still standing and looked mostly unharmed. Varius arrived shortly after Samuel. Apparently he had been locked up, too.

"Everything okay here?" Samuel asked and was confirmed.  
"Commander, shall we go over and rough them up?" Caliria asked.  
"Too risky, we don't know how many there are on the other ship. We must find their decker. Goodwin is already in combat her, which means she must be lying around here somewhere. Trox, Varius, continue securing the airlock. Caliria you come with me to find this woman!" Said Samuel.

The group split up. Each searched in a different room, but there was no trace of the decker. In between, the ship did other strange things. 

"Keni, go check on Goodwin and keep an eye on him." Samuel shouted. 

A decker who was not conscious was in danger and easy prey. So he had to be well, very well hidden or very well guarded. This gave Samuel a thought: what if at least one of the two women had never left the infirmary? There was also a computer there. Samuel hurried back to the station. It seemed empty. Dr. Ven'Tisa and Jennifer Sola had barricaded themselves somewhere else. Samuel looked around. He listened. Feel. He didn't need adept powers for that. _Amonkira, show her to me_ , he prayed silently. Suddenly he heard a sound. It was barely perceptible. Some kind of bumping. He turned his head and approached one of the cupboards. Slowly he opened it and pointed the pistol at the inside. The emergency light revealed a slender female figure lying dead in the closet. A cable was plugged into the data socket at her temple. She twitched again and again gently. Samuel looked at her. Normally he doesn't kill defenseless people anymore. He pulled the trigger and was about to shoot, when suddenly an iron-hard cyberarm grabbed him by the neck from behind and pulled him back. He stumbled backwards with a lough. He smelled blood and metal and could see: the arm was a cyber arm, squeezing his throat. Samuel struggled but after a few seconds it turned black before his eyes. Light and sound were already fading away as the pressure in his head grew. He tried in vain to reach his pistol. He felt himself going down on his knees, feeling he was about to sigh out his soul. The power of his attacker was superhuman, but that was what cyberware was all about. The strength increase was insane.

Then he heard a male voice cry out and suddenly the grip loosened. He was able to breathe again and sucked the air into his lungs. Coughing and quick-wittedly he freed himself and dived down. Sitting, he turned around and could now see what was happening in front of him: O'Connor, covered in blood, who should be dead, but was obviously too much of a machine than a human, stood there and whirled around in circles screaming. Something was hanging from his belt. No. On his butt?! Samuel couldn't believe what he saw at first. **Tiberius** had clenched his teeth into the redheaded man's butt and wouldn't let go. O'Conner couldn't catch the dog and was obviously in tremendous pain, judging by the screams. Tiberius growled and clung to the man's butt with an iron bite. Samuel pulled himself out of his paralysis, grabbed his pistol, took aim and shot a hole in O'Connor's head. The man stopped spinning and fell to the ground like a wet sack. Tiberius was partially buried under the mass. Samuel crawled to the dog and pulled him out by his front paws. The dachshund barked and wagged its tail while trying to lick Samuel's face.

"Tiberius! Good dog. Thanks to the gods you were here." Gasped the elf.

A gargling rattle caused Samuel to turn around. He did not pay attention to Tiberius, who, because he was still kneeling, jumped on his back and put his front paws on his left shoulder. The woman in the closet suddenly spat out a huge gush of blood and turned into a horrible looking cramp. Then blood came out of her eyes and her ears. After a few seconds that horrific episode was over and her body went limp. The butterfly icon disappeared from all screens.

"We are free!" Cried Deen Watts through the speakers. 

At the same time, the entire system went up and resumed normal operation. Samuel stood up and Tiberius slipped off his back. He barked and hopped, wagging his tail and looking intently at the commander. He looked briefly at the dog and inquired: 

"Status report, everyone!"

"Bridge back in service." Did it come from Deen.  
"Emissary is save." Thantos said.  
"Vital signs of all crew members present." Signaled Dr. Ven'Tisa.  
"Airlock secure, ready for boarding." Suggested Trox.  
"Goodwin, are you back?" Samuel wanted to know.  
"Affirmative, Commander. Got a headache, but was able to give the chick a shot of black ice. She'll never hack us again. Crashed their system, too. They're just hanging out for a while." Jake replied.  
"Perfect." Samuel said.  
"I'm reading 10 life signs on the enemy ship, Commander." Deen said.

Samuel hurried to the airlock again, followed by Tiberius. His neck hurt and he didn't want to know what he looked like, but that was completely irrelevant. The threat from the pirate ship still existed. Trox, Varius and Caliria looked at their commander as he came out of the corridor. He knew what Trox would like to do now. But it was too dangerous. There was one last thing to do. Two of his crew members were out of work so far. That changed now.

"Watts, release docking! Teekoy, Mr. Suvay, it's your turn. Give them our cannons to eat!"  
"Finally, man! I mean, yes, Commander.“ Teekoy replied...

The Phoenix was on the move. One could see the pirate ship's airlock being released with brute force. Much to Trox's displeasure, but Varius noticed something:

"Hey, they forgot to close their airlock door!"  
"Fact! Ha, idiots!" Trox laughed and pressed himself next to Varius against the window of the airlock door of the Phoenix.

Elegantly, the lightly armed frigate maneuvered past the enemy ship and positioned itself for the front guns. When this was done, the Phoenix began to fire at the enemy ship from all barrels. The pirate ship was badly hit, Goodwin could confirm this. He also warned to get to safety, as the ship was likely to explode shortly. Teekoy and Tiran had done a good job. Cheen maneuvered the Phoenix quickly and safely away from the pirate ship when the first explosions appeared on the outer hull. Just before the jump into hyperspace, a bright light could still be seen in orbit as the ship was engulfed by a massive explosion that spread from back to front. The battle was won.

"Nobody messes with the Phoenix, whoo-hoo!" Cheered Patricia and other crew members joined in.

The bodies of the pirates were examined, their omnitools removed and their identities verified. Most of them had fake identities, but APEX would still benefit greatly from the data stored on the omintools. The dead O'Connor was kept together with the decker. The remaining bodies were disposed of through the airlock. They received neither a proper burial nor a drell prayer. They did not deserve it. The Phoenix made its way to the Nexus. There the ship would be cleaned, inspected and with luck upgraded. 

On the Nexus, the bodies of the two mercenaries were handed over to APEX and the laboratories. The cyberware would be examined and dismantled. As a rule, the same procedure was used for heavily cybered people who no longer needed their equipment. What O'Connor wore was beta ware, which would definitely find use. APEX was able to find out about the red-haired bearded man after a relatively short time that he - and probably the two women as well – were probably members of the New Order with mission to regularly secure transporters with goods for the organization in the Zaubray and Pytheas system. So they had also attacked this transporter, hijacked it, murdered the crew, and presumably fired into space before sending the distress signal to attract more ships. On the Phoenix, O'Connor had provided the salarian Mr. Shade with initial data about the ship. So he, the decker "Butterfly" and the rigger had worked frequently and successfully raided many transporters. 

The terrorists had obviously not taken into account that this time they would encounter such a capable, well-coordinated crew - and Tiberius' element of surprise. This had been their undoing. The remains of the pirate ship were now floating in orbit. APEX would very soon send agents to investigate the wreckage and find possible traces that would lead to the missing goods or more. It was hoped that there was still something left to salvage from the wreckage. To ensure this, the best riggers and deckers currently available would be sent. Varius Talorian, who was also an agent, could assume that he would be called.

After this event there were wounds to lick. Besides Samuel, Caliria and Trox had been slightly injured. Jennifer Sola and Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa had also suffered minor injuries, but overall the Phoenix crew had won this fight with flying colors. Tiberius received a delicious asari treat from Samuel, which he bought on the Nexus, as a thank-you gift. If it weren't for this strange space dachshund, O'Connor would probably have killed him. An incredible animal. Keni was overjoyed that Tiberius had intervened so heroically and the commander had not been strangled. The fact that this almost happened depressed especially Samara and Varius. The turian overheard the conversation between the Wolfsbane siblings rather accidentally the night before they left the Phoenix to spend a few days on the Nexus.

"That was close, Samuel. You could have died!" Samara said.  
"Tiberius was there. I just got lucky." Samuel replied casually.  
"Tiberius. Yeah, what if he hadn't been there? The guy would have killed you!"

Samuel looked at his sister, unnerved.  
"Samara, why are we having this conversation? I‘m an APEX agent, ki-adept, your bodyguard _and_ former shadowrunner. Why do I always have to explain myself to you?"

The red-haired young woman was silent and ran one hand over her face. She shook her head. Samuel kept looking at her.

"You know my work is dangerous and you know why I act the way I do. Please just let me do my work. I know you're doing this out of love and I appreciate your concern, but your overprotection is now severely hampering me."

Samara nodded softly. "It's okay. I know you're right, Sam. I'm not the only one who's worried about you."  
"Nobody should worry about me. I'm the one who worries about others, who cares about their safety." Samuel replied.  
"Saraan. Professor de Kanos was also very concerned about you when you were in coma. When he was not with you, he contacted me several times a day to ask how you were doing. Sweet of him, huh?" Samara said and smiled.  
Samuel was silent.  
"He likes you, Sam. He really likes you."

Varius clenched one of his fists and surpressed a growl. His mandibles were twitching. Saraan. How he hated that angara by now.

Samuel sighed softly.  
"Whatever. Let's try not to get too bored the next few days on the Nexus."

Samara let her brother go. Then she too left the quarters. Varius, who had been sitting and listening in the lower part of the ship, also sighed and left the ship after them.


	20. Interlude 5: Club Sazalaar - Thoughts and Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varius is brooding about himself and his potential future with Samuel Wolfsbane in one of the questionable bars on Kadara, when a former colleague from Ecplise times visits him, who wants to plant some unpleasant thoughts in his head.
> 
> For some mood listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Gkh_9hyi8

Even though Commander Wolfsbane had been taken out of action and officially sent by APEX on recreational leave, there were smaller missions with very little to no danger potential. For example, accompanying the Emissary on the Nexus to probably the most boring conferences imaginable. What Thantos usually did, Samuel had been put in charge of. The Phoenix had to undergo a longer inspection on the Nexus anyway, which meant about a week's shore leave for the crew. 

The Nexus, the giant space station built as part of the Andromeda Initiative, had developed magnificently over the past 15 years. It had now reached its planned length of 15.47 km and had been fully expanded. Although the Nexus was smaller than the Citadel, it now had just as much to offer as the much larger space station in the Milky Way: thousands and thousands of apartment blocks, huge gardens with hydroponics from all habitable planets, an entertainment mile, various marketplaces, places for culture and meetings, religion, embassies, even a zoo. Of course, the command center, where the APEX headquarters was located, still existed. APEX itself had received an extension when training grounds and areas for the various departments and specializations were built and equipped. Science had also undergone a massive upgrade and received a whole research and development complex. The cryostasis deck had been reduced in size, while the infirmary had been enlarged and upgraded. Meanwhile, diseases of planets in Andromeda could be classified and partially treated. Each crew member of the Phoenix either had their own living quarters or lived together with other crew members in a larger one. Each apartment had its own comfort. Sometimes it was just a little lonely. 

Varius Talorian found his quarters uncomfortably empty since he had realized that he was in love with his commander. However, he had plans to change this. It was convenient for him that he had been assigned by APEX for a mission on Kadara. It was a chance to focus on other things again and if that didn't work out, to get drunk in the east of Kadara, in Spirit's Ledge, in a very special place. 

The former hideout of the Three Sabers had been converted and now seemed to be some kind of club. Still it was dubious looking and held dubious guests. Well what do you expect when you're on Kadara? The name of the club was _Sazalaar_. The interior was surprisingly clean and intact. There were several seating-accommodations, partially well hidden behind metal folding screens, a big dance floor and a well equipped bar. There he sat at the bar in a dark corner and brooded in front of a cup of some hard liquor that only turians could drink, while other species, maybe except for the krogans, would die miserably from it. Various questions haunted his mind while he stared into the void. Should he go for a drink with de Kanos and slip him the turian brew to poison him? Should he have told Wolfsbane how he felt about him on that evening a few days before? Should he find a way to bind him? Should he continue to seduce him? It was somehow adorable every time he melted in his claws, his recalcitrance dissolved and he lay moaning in his arms or underneath him, craving for more. It was so exciting every time. He loved to break his resistance and to feel how rejection became deep desire. Fuck, he would do it again and again. How could he stop doing that? He fucking loved this man. 

Varius sighed and scratched his neck. The commander would probably really throw him off board one day. Literally. If he was really angry, maybe he would airlock him into space. Or ask Trox to do it. All because of that filthy angaran resistance fighter. Resistance fighter. My ass! The guy was a shitty Ex-Roekaar. Insidious son of a bitch. Sure, people could change. But a Roekaar? Seriously?How could Wolfsbane fall for a guy like that?! He couldn't let that angara guy take away his commander. Varius stared so gloomily that not even the bar keeper spoke to him. But someone else did.

"You look like you could use more than just this one drink today, Vary."

There was only one person who called him "Vary". One with whom he shared a dark past. One who had been with him at Eclipse and had made Omega insecure before they left together. Jace Atrix. 

Jace was also a turian. Varius looked at his conspecific. He wore ridiculous-looking sunglasses from the grey days of old. His face painting was no less striking. He must have been on stage playing music recently. In his spare time he was hitting the keys of a keyboard. When he wasn't on duty, he was always extremely good, some would say overly good, on it and was always pulling someone else. 

"Jace!" Varius greeted him with pleasure.

Jace smiled. "I'm glad you recognized me."  
"Even though your face paint is funny." Varius replied, amused. "What is this supposed to represent?"  
"It's just for my appearances. Back then on earth I got that color changing tattoo thingy in a body shop. Very convenient." Jace explained.

Jace hadn't been into clan painting since he joined Ecplise, which had happened in his early youth.

"I see. A body shop? There was such a thing?" Varius asked amazed.  
"Sure, there was. I think the city was called Seattle. I have been there once or twice. There was a really great cyber mile."  
"I've never been to Seattle, I think."

Jace checked out his former gang buddy. 

"So, what's with the face? Did you have bad sex? You still only chasing males?"

Fuck this. But that was the reason why he sat here in the Sazalaar and wanted to get drunk. 

"Yep, women are still not my thing." Varius replied first. He knew that Jace was curious. In this he was competing with Patricia Potter.

"So, what's got you in such a bad mood now? You're usually the bright sunshine, as humans say." Jace teased him.

Varius snorted. "Humans. Yes, it's them again. One, actually." 

He emptied his cup in one go. Jace looked at him for a moment.

"Not another human being. You really have a fetish for them, don't you?" Jace climbed on the barstool next to him. "Forget about them. They can't take much in bed."

"He's hard to forget. Even if I tried, I keep seeing him. He's my supervisor.” Replied Varius, almost making Jace spit out his drink.  
"Your boss? Oh man, dude, that sucks. You're pissed off, which means you have a crush, but he's not interested in you?" Jace deduced. 

Varius nodded and ordered another drink grimly.

"Yep, that's what it looks like." He replied.  
"But why him? What has he got, why not at least one other turian? There are just as attractive, likeable among our equals." Jace wanted to know.  
"Apart from the fact that he's damn attractive and it's enough to look into his eyes - to see the look in his eyes? When he looks at me so warningly, I just want to drag him into bed...”  
Jace listened and sipped his drink. "Go on?" He asked him attentively.

"He is very handsome for a human and has a freaking hot body and fights like a cat of prey. He prefers hand-to-hand combat and is so good at it, Jace, he almost killed a fucking mutant ancient eiroch creature all by himself. He dances much more than fighting. Oh yeah, he's a pretty damn good dancer too. I danced tango with him the other day. It was awesome. On top of that he is someone who stands up for others without hesitation and tries to be just. Believe me, you would agree with me if you saw him.’ 

Varius really went into raptures. Jace let him talk and listened, sipped his cup again and again and watched his old buddy amused. Shit, that loon was completely in love.

"Sounds awesome." He finally said. "I'm **really** getting curious, Vary. Very curious." He added grinning.  
"He's mine." Growled Varius. "Well, that's how it should be. But he rejects me."  
Jace shrugged. "If he doesn't want to, then let it be?"  
"No way, Jace! Because I fucking smell he's lying when he rejects me." Growled Varius.  
"So that's what you've been up to." Said Jace and smiled. "You already sniffed on him."

The "sniff test" was common practice among turians to determine if a potential partner was the right one. But it didn't have to mean anything if the body of the chosen one was emitting pheromones. They could be emitted during sex just because the body was aroused and nothing more.

"I take it you have fucked him yet?" He asked bluntly.  
"Several times." Varius replied and had to grin.  
"Yoo-hoo. Was it good?" Jace had even less inhibitions to chat about such things.  
"He always fights back at first. He does not understand at all that his fighting only turns a turian on even more.” Replied Varius.  
“Hmm, sounds like rape to me.” Jace pondered.  
“Well, kind of…” Varius answered thoughtfully. “But it never lasts long. To fight back, I mean.”  
“And so at some point he likes it?”  
“Oh yeah. This is the sweetest moment. The sweetest moment...“ Varius sighed slightly.

Jace propped his head on a claw and said: "tell me more about this.”

“Once I get him where I want him, hrrrmm…” Varius growled in satisfaction. “He's like wax in my claws. That’s so damn hot. Aaand….hearing him beg for more in the final moments. Hearing his voice, when he….mmh.”

"You’re almost starting to drool, Vary. But, well. That’s lovely. So you still got it, huh?" Grinned Jace.  
"Of course."  
"And he still doesn't want you? That's annoying."  
"I know why.” Varius became more serious again. His face darkened. "Because of some shitty angara. The commander is probably in love with him."

Jace made a grimace. This complicated the whole thing, of course.

"And this guy is a former Roekaar, Jace. I don't know why Wolfsbane trusts him anyway. It pisses me off the way he looks at him, anyway. I could rip his miserable cat's eyes out." Growled Varius.  
"Phew, someone's very jealous." Jace noticed.

Varius made a quiet animal-like sound of displeasure and sipped his drink.

"Although we are in an alien galaxy we have nevertheless taken our traditions with us. And the angara certainly have their traditions too. Or are at least inclined to respect those of others. At least when it comes to such matters." Jace mused.  
"I've already thought about challenging him to a duel. Actually, that would be the easiest way to find out if this angara has a thing for Wolfsbane. If he refuses the challenge, the commander is obviously not important enough." Said Varius.  
And Jace added: "and a coward he would be on top of it. Should be enough for your crush to forget about this guy."

Varius sighed and remained silent. Jace let his eyes wander. The Sazalaar was well attended as always. Especially by many shady characters. On Kadara they either liked to romp around in the Tartarus or here in the Sazalaar.

"On the other hand... It would not be the first time that we make a troublemaker disappear. We would succeed even here in Andromeda." He said.  
"Trouble is, that guy's the third most powerful member of his species. He's the deputy leader of the Resistance." Said Varius.  
"Oh, man, you serious? Do you have to start messing with these sizes?" Snorted Jace.

Varius shrugged. "Is it my fault that my future mate falls for a guy like that?"  
Jace smiled. "Future mate, huh? Are you confident. Already got serious plans."  
"I want him. And I won't let anybody take him away from me, Jace."  
“Be careful not to get a little carried away, Vary. If he ends up hating you, you'll both be very unhappy. “  
“I know, Jace.” Varius sighed. “Of course I do not want him to hate me. On the contrary.”  
“You can’t force someone to love. His body on the other hand...drugs can work miracles.” Jace pondered.  
“No. That is not the point.” Varius answered.  
“Just a consideration. I'd keep that in mind.” Obviously Jace was still more of a villain than a righteous fighter.

However he had the feeling that he was on the best way ending up with a mate that hated him. He decided after this evening in the club to let the whole thing rest for now. Fate was obviously in his favor. Because the events that followed in the coming days and weeks would hardly leave any opportunities to deal intensively with emotions.

“You could abduct him? Or I could…” Jace started to muse again.  
“Come again?” Varius looked at him.  
“I haven’t come this night. But you could make me.” Jace grinned and received a rabbit punch. “Ouch! Okay, yeah, get it, you rather would make _him_ come.”  
Varius didn’t answer and took a sip from his cup.  
“What I meant was: abduct him. Literally. In ancient times this was common on Palaven? And on earth, too, as far as I know.” Jace said.  
“Great idea. And if I kidnapped him, where do I take him?”  
“There are so many planets in this system!”  
“Most of which are still uninhabitable.” Varius took another sip.  
“Then bring him to me to the Paladin!” Jace smiled.  
“And what does the turian division say?”  
“They do not have to know that.”  
“You can be a real jerk sometimes, Jace.”  
“I'm just trying to help you.” Said Jace and played the insulted. “And I want him moaning in my bed, giving him a mind-blowing orgasm one by o-ouch!!”

Another, much stronger, rabbit punch. Jace finally remained silent for a few moments. He wanted to take a sip from his cup as he paused and stared into space.

"Hold on." He said. "Ancient times. Traditions. Of course!" He started grinning and looked at Varius. "There are definitely ways you can bind him to you."

He lifted his cup and held it out to Varius. Varius toasted him and they both drank.

“I will help you with everything if I can have him for one night.” Jace suggested.  
Varius pondered. “Let's see. Kidnapping and rape is an absolute no-go, understand?”  
“Of course. Don't worry, after all you learned all the tricks of how to make someone horny from **me**.“ Jace grinned. “By the way...a threesome would be hot to death for sure.”

Varius smiled salaciously when he began to capture this idea in mental images. That sounded really good. "Well, I guess I'll have to make do with you alone tonight." He said, reaping laughter from Jace.

"And now let's go dancing!" He called and dragged his former gang buddy with him onto the dance floor. “Maybe we'll even tow someone away. Let's liven up the old times a little!”

Like in the old days? No, not quite. Parts of those old times were soaked with the blood of innocents. Varius did not want to revive the time at Ecplise.


	21. Chapter 15: Kralla's Song Brawl & Drell Prejudices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel asks Teekoy Var and Tiran Suvay for a conversation. In Kralla's Song it comes to the heart-to-heart talk. And to a brawl. Samuel is observed by some drell. They suspect that he is a drell slave.

On the Phoenix there were things that were generally known and usually accepted, if they were morally acceptable. For example, it was accepted, or rather tolerated, that Commander Wolfsbane, commander of the Phoenix and leader of a APEX unit, to which Thantos Savallian belonged, addressed the drell as his master and showed himself humble to submissive towards him, because the relationship between the two of them was special. Some would say: a particularly complex one. Although Samuel was Thantos' superior, he was also his slave, although Thantos very rarely reminded him of his position. This matter was probably one of the most complex on the ship.

It was partly known that Varius Talorian found the commander attractive; some morally more flexible members of the crew, such as Caliria Andrascus or Teekoy Var at least suspected that the two had slept together. How much the whole thing had been consensual was open, but not very interesting. One overlooked it. The icy atmosphere that now prevailed between the two of them, even if it was mainly Wolfsbane, everyone noticed, but everyone kept quiet about it or simply ignored it. In combat and on missions, everyone worked as they should and that was essential.

It was also known that Teekoy Var and Tiran Suvay often had struggles with each other, but when it came down to it, they worked perfectly together as a team at the ship’s guns. Teekoy liked to annoy the hanar for life. And this time he had taken it too far.

The volus had slipped Tiran Suvay a few weeks ago a substance that he had talked the newest crew member, Keni'Toras vas Xehala, out of and made sure that Suvay's body color had changed from the familiar pink-purple to a poisonous, radiant green. As a reaction, Suvay, in his rage, had beaten up the volus with his tentacles, poisoning him multiply. Hanar possessed endogenous toxins that could become very dangerous for other living beings. Jennifer Sola had once compared Tiran to a cone snail. For these also possessed a whole cocktail of nerve toxins, which they could use at will. Of course, Teekoy had collapsed and lay in Med Bay for some time under Dr. Ven'Tisa's supervision. In the meantime he was getting better again. Tiran was now turquoise, not poisonous green, about four weeks after Samuel learned of this ominous news. And still unhappy, even though everyone assured him that he was beautiful. But the best thing was not to talk to him about it in the first place. Samuel and Thantos, even Samara, were among those wise persons. 

Teekoy and Tiran had avoided each other since the event, but now, a month and a half later, Samuel decided to take them to task. He wanted to talk to them alone, or at least not on the ship, since he knew his crew well enough to know that there would always be at least one or two who would listen. Since they were currently on Kadara, Teekoy Var suggested they go to Kralla's Song in Kadara Port. Samuel was skeptical, as this dump was not exactly quiet, but then agreed. Tiran didn't even comment on it, but as always he obeyed his commander when he asked him to come with him for a talk with Var.

There was still an official ban of weapons in Kadara Port. Before entering the city center, one had to either hand in all weapons and armor and get them back later - this option was out of the question for Samuel, since he didn't trust any of the guys there, no matter whether the contract between the Alliance and the Charlatan members was still in effect or not - or one left everything on the ship right away. Samuel decided on the latter. He took a small combat knife with him. This was generally not considered a dangerous weapon. He put on dark clothes, which looked civilian but were nevertheless reinforced. It had advantages to be an adept. Even if he could not use his powers, he was never completely unprotected or unarmed. The only problem that might have come up was that someone discovered the badges of the Nexus and the Alliance and didn't like them, but he didn't worry about that. 

He was walking down the corridor leading to the airlock and was about to enter it when he heard noises behind him. By now he knew the distinctive scratching of small, blunt but strong claws on paws on the floor, which glided very fast over the metal floor. When he turned around, Tiberius stood behind him with his tail raised, limp ears erect, and looked at him attentively from his strange eyes. Dogs usually had large dark eyes. Tiberius' eyes were more like those of a cat. Pupils were slit vertically and varied in size depending on light or mood. He wore around his stocky front body a kind of small vest that Keni had once made for him. A kind of dog armor. So he stood there and looked at the elf. Samuel guessed what he wanted.

"Rrrwaff!" It came.  
"Tiberius, no. You stay here. Kadara Port is too dangerous for you." He said.

By now he knew that the dog understood more than one would expect from an ordinary animal. So the reaction to Samuel's words was correspondingly discontented.

"No, I don't care how little you like it, it..."

Tiberius sat down on his hind legs and opened his eyes. Samuel raised both eyebrows slightly. He suspected what was to follow. And he was right. Tiberius put his head in his neck and tore open his mouth to protest loudly. He stamped the ground with his front paws alternately.

"Grraaaaaaaaaaahhhhrrr!!!!"  
"Dude, all right, stop it! You can come with me if you stop behaving like this!" Snorted Samuel.

The dachshund immediately stopped his fuss and looked at Samuel happily. He stuck out his tongue and began panting and wagging his tail before he started to move and ran towards the airlock.

"Tiberius?" Said Samuel. The dog paused and looked over his shoulder to the elf.  
"You don't make any trouble, don't steal anything and don't pee anywhere in Kralla's Song. Do we understand each other?"

The dog nodded panting and barked once. Yes. He nodded. That might seem creepy to some people. Even for Samuel it was still unusual. But here on board this ship there were things that were best not to be surprised about. The Pheonix crew could be called "crazy" as well as "colorful". The dachshund was the icing on the cake until now.

Samuel left the ship together with Tiberius, who was tripping along in front of him and was obviously very happy to come along with the commander. They reached Kadara Port after the heavy entrance gate, which had never been serviced or overhauled before, finally opened. Kralla's Song was located on the lower level of the city, which, as always, was well attended by questionable characters who did even more questionable business. Kadara was still a place of outlaws, criminals, the black market and affairs that better were not questioned. Here one could buy and sell things that were classified as semi-legal or illegal by Alliance standards. If you were looking for someone to do wet work, you could find them here. Since the quarian ark had landed, many drell and many hanar were found here. Gullible was the one who believed that with their arrival the contract killing business had not started. In his homeland Samuel would have called Kadara Port a runner place. 

Besides Teekoy and Tiran, he was not the only one of his crew to hang around here. He knew that his _shaday_ was also on the move here, and he knew that he carried out missions that were among the aforementioned. He didn't have to do that because, unlike Samuel, he wasn’t in _The Compact_ anymore. It was rather favors that he did and received all kinds of valuable things in return. Caliria Andrascus, Nakmor Trox Ghurak and Varius Talorian were definitely also here somewhere and went about their business. This was not further questioned as long as it did not endanger the Phoenix, other crew members or the missions. Samuel let them act and they gave him credit for it. Some of the crew members had experienced a dark past or a difficult time because of which none of them had once been accepted by any crew or legal group:

Caliria Andrascus had been a drug smuggler for a long time. She had to support herself and her sister and had not found work anywhere legally.

Teekoy Var had earned her credits by killing people who had cyberware, salvaging them and selling their parts. He had been despised by society because he was a volus and had also not been able to get a good job anywhere.

Varius Talorian was a former member of Eclipse and had been bullied by every APEX squad. His family had disowned him when he had his coming out and had made his way on the streets.

Jake Goodwin was in prison for "illegal activities in the Matrix".

Well, and Keni'Toras vas Xehala had been a member of a pirate crew until recently and had been oppressed and exploited there. Because she was quarian, many people had had reservations about her.

Samuel Wolfsbane had recruited and united them all. He had seen their potential and he was someone who gave second chances because he himself had a very dark past and had also received a second chance from Thantos. That was another reason why his crew was so loyal to him. With Varius, the whole thing went far beyond loyalty, which unfortunately was a problem. But there was nothing to see of the turian anywhere. And Samuel was not thinking of him at all now. Together with Tiberius he walked towards the bar "Kralla's Song", where Teekoy was already waiting. The volus leaned against one of the metal pillars and looked towards his commander. Samuel glanced at him fleetingly, then both went inside. Inside, in a corner, sat a couple of drell who were talking quietly and looked up as the elf and the volus came in. Their eyes fell on the dog. Then on the turquoise hanar, which levitated into the bar shortly after the three of them. Tiran had indeed put on a purple sweater that he had knitted himself. Nevertheless one could see the turquoise color.

"Hey, no animals in here!" Called the bartender, an asari. She had been running this place since ever.  
Samuel looked at her as a choking sound came from another corner just at that moment. He turned his head and saw a person throwing up. Wordlessly, he looked at the asari behind the counter again and gently raised both eyebrows. The asari twisted her eyes.

"Okay, okay. But if it shits anywhere, it's out." She growled.

Samuel nodded at her and went on with Teekoy, Tiran and Tiberius. Tiran kept a noticeable distance from Teekoy and made sure that Samuel was between them. In another corner, humans and salarians sat and talked, as did some quarians. As always, the bar was sparsely filled with questionable guests. The drell group, four in number, kept an eye on the newcomers. Many eyes were on the turquoise hanar. Such a thing had never been seen before. Samuel ignored the glances and was glad that they were not all directed at him.

He chose a free table that was as far away from the hearing range of other guests as possible. That is what most people here did. One sat down on the chairs. Tiberius stood on his hind legs after Samuel had sat down and pressed his front paws whimpering against the elf thigh. 

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

Tiberius continued to whimper and began to scratch at the reinforced trousers. He made preparations to jump. Samuel sighed softly. 

"No, Tiberius. Stay down. From there you can keep a better eye on people." 

Tiberius made a low mumble, but obeyed and curled up under the table at Samuel's feet. The commander looked up at Teekoy and Tiran. Both had settled at a suitable distance from each other. Samuel folded his hands on the tabletop and looked alternately from hanar to volus.

"Teekoy, honorable Mr. Suvay. I know that the two of you often have problems with each other. Of course I have been told what happened during my...absence. I would like to hear a statement from Teekoy first." He said.

Teekoy began to speak hesitantly. He had received a sample of the latest experiment, the antidote to certain endemic plant toxins, from Keni'Toras vas Xehala, and wanted to know how a hanar would react to it, since it was able for them to produce toxins naturally in the body. He had planned to combine the toxins with each other in order to further develop the quarian's research. Samuel sat on his chair, put the fingers of his hands together and listened to Teekoy attentively. One of his black eyebrows had moved higher and higher as he listened to the explanations. Even Tiberius - the dachshund had meanwhile climbed onto the free chair at the table and laid his head on the tabletop - looked as if he had raised one eyebrow. Samuel briefly closed his eyes as he spoke:

"Let me get this straight. You presumably poisoned Mr. Suvay in order to extract a potential poison combination from him afterwards - for whatever, I don't want to know."

Teekoy snorted and looked at his commander. "Uh, yes."  
"You realize you could have seriously injured Mr. Suvay?"  
"Uh, yes. But..."  
"You deliberately endangered a member of the crew, Mr. Var. You should have known Mr. Tiran would react that way." Samuel said. He spoke moderately but firmly.  
"I had hoped that the combination of the antidote with the poison of a hanar would lead to hanar developing immunity to endemic plant toxins in the future. Or that their toxin spectrum would expand. Our dear Tiran here is quite defenseless.”

Teekoy lowered his head a bit and kept silent. Samuel looked at the volus after this statement. He was not sure what to make of it. So the whole theater was for the purpose of immunizing Suvay? He was now looking at the turquoise hanar. He had looked at Samuel attentively.

"Honorable Mr. Suvay, your version, please."

Suvay explained that the morning Teekoy poisoned him, he was in the galley and noticed a strange taste in his drink. But by that time it was already too late. He felt a strong itching and dizziness as he noticed his body color change from purple to green. He had discovered Teekoy at the entrance of the galley, who must have been watching him, and knew immediately that he was behind it. There had been a scuffle in which he had struck the volus several times and attacked him with poison. Tiran admitted that he got carried away at that moment.

"Kchch, you also “carried away”, my jelly friend, kchch, that a few days before you had mentioned that you felt very weak and miserable in the surroundings of Havarl and Aya, kchch, because of the air and the secretions of the plants! Kchch." Teekoy suddenly threw in.

Samuel leaned back in his chair. "Okay, so you tried to help Mr. Suvay in a very strange and dangerous way?" He asked Var.

He nodded assiduously. "Well, yes! Kchch. But Suvay is far too modest to ask for help, kchch. He's as bad in this as you, Commander, no offense."

So that's what happened. That was a very strange thing.

"Teekoy. Mr. Suvay. I'm not comfortable keeping you on the ship if I'm not there. You work together perfectly as a team and the fact that you argue a lot is nothing new. But when you start nearly killing each other, I have to consider assigning you to other ships and teams."

They seemed depressed. In spite of the mask or the missing face, Samuel could see their state of mind. There was silence for a few moments. Tiberius, his head still on the tabletop, looked from one to the other.

"I am, as you know, for second chances." Said Samuel. "If you wish to remain on the Phoenix, I expect you to behave yourself, as far as you can within your means.” He was looking at Teekoy. "You will now sincerely apologize to Mr. Suvay."

Teekoy looked up. He looked at Tiran, then Samuel, then Tiran again. A deep sigh escaped the round, stocky body. Samuel looked at the volus waiting and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Tiran was silent. He was so turned towards the table that it was not clear whether he was looking at Samuel or Teekoy. When the sighing sounded, he turned to Teekoy. Meanwhile, Samuel pushed Tiberius from the chair as he made the effort to climb onto the table. Grumbling, he sat down under the table.

"Kchchchchchchchch...(this time he sucked in the air very deeply). So, Suvay...yes, kchchchch...what I did was pretty stupid."

Tiran was silent. Samuel was silent.

"I thought it could serve science, kchch. And also for you!"

Silence.

"And because you are so defenseless, I thought it could give you a great advantage, kchch.”

Persistent silence.

"But now I see, kchch, that this was a rash and very dangerous action. And..."

_"Hey, Nexus scum!"_

Suddenly a strange man stood at the table of the three and looked at Samuel. The elf raised his head and blinked at the man, a human with a burn scar that disfigured the right side of his face, without understanding. He looked like one of the many outlaws who roamed around here in Kadara Port, but somehow he looked familiar to Samuel. He quickly knew where he came from. Not least because the stranger kept talking:

"Black sends his greetings. He will cut your pretty face next time."

Emilio Black. He had completely repressed the black-haired elf. It had not been important to think of him before. Now he reentered Samuel's memory when the half-drunk human stood up in front of him. The man had been a member of Black's crew. Or obviously still was. Samuel did not speak. But he very slowly released his arms from the entanglement.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue, pointy ear? Or have you gotten so scared now you can't speak anymore?" The man scoffed. 

Behind him, three other guys, all human beings, stepped out of the semi-darkness of a corner of the bar towards the three. Samuel could make out a soft growl under the table. Good thing he had pushed Tiberius off his chair before. As the man's three cronies approached, Teekoy pushed himself off the chair.

"Of course, kchch, there're always some assholes who want to be kicked in the face." He said.

The tension in the room increased noticeably. In the background a female voice called out: "Hey, no fights, okay? I've had enough of this!" But it was not heard.

"Well, what's the matter, handsome, can't you look more than good?" The guy kept provoking him.

Samuel knew that the guy wouldn't let himself be driven away with just words. Besides, Teekoy had already taken the first step towards conflict. Samuel slowly rose from his chair and finally stood directly in front of the guy, who was about three inches taller than himself.

"You heard the asari. No fighting." He said calmly.

The room had become dead quiet. All eyes were on the scenario. The guy was eyeing Samuel. He clearly smelled of alcohol. Had he had to drink himself courage first? Now two more guys approached.

"Six against three. Man, are we unfair!" Teekoy laughed. 

This volus was not one to hide. Sometimes Samuel had the impression that Var was sometimes more krogan than volus.

"We'll shut you up too, volus!" One of the other guys growled.  
"Well, you're not going to get around that, you bastard. You haven't got a chance!" Said the man in front of Samuel.  
"Ha ha ha, more sissies, kchch, that'll be fun!" Teekoy scoffed. 

The asari yelled again, but was ignored.

"You'd better sit down again." Samuel gave the guy one more chance.  
"Ha ha, cute. How are you going to fight and get there? You don't even have a krogan to protect you." He said, and got a hearty laugh from his mates.  
Samuel tilted his head slightly and whispered: "I don't need a krogan. I have a hanar and a volus."  
The laughter became scornful. The man grinned and pushed Samuel a little bit away. He let it happen.

"What a prankster!" He shouted and now stepped closer to the table, and with it, in Tiberius exact bite range.  
"Oh, sorry, I forgot someone else." Said Samuel and gave the order: "Tiberius, sick’em!"

A growl, a snap. The guy made a funny face that quickly turned into pure pain and cried out before he started jumping. Tiberus was stuck on his calf and had buried his teeth deep. That was the starting signal. 

The five other guys jumped on Samuel, on Teekoy and on Tiran. One of them tried to help his buddy and to pull the dachshund from him. Two went after Samuel, one after Tiran and one after Teekoy. Teekoy retreated first, but then climbed onto the table and with a battle cry jumped into the group of opponents. Tiran retreated equally and was forced into a corner. Just before the guy could hit him, his tentacles twitched forward and embraced the attacker's wrists and neck. He began to rattle and tried to free himself, but apparently had no chance against the power of the tentacles. When Teekoy smashed a chair on the back of the human wrapped by Tiran, he fell to the ground. Amazingly, however, he was still fidgeting.

Samuel fended off the opponents' blows with playful ease. It was soon obvious that he was more than trained in martial arts. He was much too fast and agile to be hit or kicked. He dodged with elegance and made sure that one of the opponents hit his comrade. The guy staggered backwards and fell. Samuel used various holds, kicks, punches and movements from Kung Fu and - what immediately caught the attention of the four drell - from the Seheron Nhaga, the drell martial art used by the assassins. The drell now watched attentively especially the elf, who treated his opponents as if they were a bunch of little street kids who presumed to attack an adult. They watched his every move closely.

In the meantime, the one who wanted to help his comrade had torn Tiberius away from him and threw the dog in a high arch across the room. Tiberius howled and rowed through the air. Samuel grabbed one of his attackers by the shoulders at that moment and did a somersault over his head before he made a jump, slipped across the ground and caught the falling dog lying down. Or rather was hit by him. The "spectators" whispered and exclaimed impressed. For them it was a mind-blowing show. Samuel ruffled and came to lie down right in front of the asari's feet. She looked at him angrily, but had no time to yell at him because one of the opponents grabbed Samuel by the ankle and dragged him to himself. The guy had suddenly pulled out a knife and wanted to ram it into Samuel's abdomen from above. Tiberius threw himself on him with a loud growl and just jumped right into his face. Howling, the man fell backwards. Samuel jumped up and kicked the knife, which had now fallen to the ground, away before he would rush to Tiran's aid. However, he saw that the hanar was doing very well on his own and even had received help from Teekoy. The man who had attacked him lay motionless on the ground with a chair half on his body. Tiran floated over him, towards Teekoy, who had just come into great distress, but was obviously having fun anyway. Yes, he really was Trox on a small scale, Samuel thought about it before dodging a blow, and the attacker's arm at the same time, to take him into a lever. To do so, he turned the man's arm on his back, hit him in the hollow of his knee and tore his head backwards. A typical Seheron Nhaga technique, according to which the throat of the victim was usually slit. However, he did not do this, even though he could have done it, since he also possessed a knife.

"Get out of here before I make you a gift to Amonkira." He spoke softly and coldly.

Again the drell became keen-eared. They looked at each other before they watched the elf again. He knocked out two of the opponents from behind with a few well-aimed blows. They went to the ground. Teekoy knocked down the remaining one. Those who were not unconscious now - Samuel was not sure whether Tiran had killed his opponent - writhed on the ground. Tiberius hobbled up and yelped. Samuel looked from Teekoy to Tiran to make sure that both were all right, when suddenly his head was torn back painfully and he felt sharp metal against his throat. He froze. Apparently there had been a seventh person who had not been noticed by anyone.

"I'll take you, you miserable bastard." A female voice growled from a helmet microphone.

A quarian. For a moment, Samuel ran down his back in ice-cold relief as he thought of Keni. It wasn't Keni?! He held still. And then the figure behind him flinched, started to rattle, which sounded very creepy, thanks to the microphone. The painful grip in his hair became loose and finally disappeared completely. The knife slipped from his throat. He felt a short burning and knew that it had cut into his skin. A relatively mild injury. The body behind him collapsed. The knife fell to the ground clinking. Teekoy and Tiran obviously looked at the person standing behind Samuel. He slowly turned around and saw:

"Varius?" He gasped softly.  
The Turian bowed his head a little and smiled. "You must always be watched, Commander." He whispered to him. Samuel looked at the quarian. She seemed to be knocked out.

Suddenly, Trox stomped up behind him.

"Boy, can't you tell when you're having fun?" He growled.

Now the asari stepped towards the group.

"You! You're all leaving now! You're banned until further notice!" She hissed. "Get out, all of you!"

Samuel turned to her and bowed curtly and elegantly. "I apologize." 

He was about to leave Kralla's Song. Teekoy, Tiran, Trox, Tiberius and Varius followed him out. As Samuel was just passing the top of the bar, one of the drell stepped in his way and stopped him. Samuel paused and looked at him questioningly. His crew behind him also stopped and watched the drell suspiciously. The other three drell stepped up to their conspecific. The drell spoke to Samuel.

"You. You master Seheron Nhaga. You pray to our gods. We heard you mention Amonkira. Who taught you that?"

The guttural, non-human voice of the drell did not reveal what emotion was dominant in him at that moment. Was it curiosity? Was it aversion? In any case, the strange drell formulated his words in a slightly archaic way.

"Yes. I am able to fight in Seheron Nhaga Style and pray to the three deities." Samuel answered truthfully. "And someone who has mastered and lives the drell religion taught me."

The drell took another step towards him. Samuel glimpsed over him. He did not know whether the stranger wanted to draw a blade and ram it into his body.

"You're somebody's _shaday_?" He asked.

Samuel hesitated with his answer. His crew behind him watched the two of them and remained silent.

"No." He finally answered neutrally.

The drell was now so close that Samuel could see his dark brown pupils in the otherwise completely black of the eyeball. He examined him once from top to bottom. His three companions stood behind him and waited.

"You are the _kouday_ of a drell." Finally the stranger spoke again.

Samuel did not answer. He tensed up a little, though. How could the other have noticed this? It was not written on his forehead. But maybe he was just guessing. Samuel decided to give the answer that seemed the most neutral and reasonable.

"A drell is my best friend."

" _Kouday_." Repeated one of the three drell behind the one Samuel was talking to in a neutral tone. 

The one in front of him looked at him again, then he turned away and the four of them left the bar in front of the commander and his crew. Samuel looked after them. He did not know exactly why he felt so miserable. Because he had been called a slave in front of everybody? Or because he had a bad premonition about these four drell?

"What the fuck was that?" He heard Teekoy behind him.  
"This person is confused." Tiran said.

Samuel felt a soft pat on his shoulder.

"Boy, don't worry about those four. Let's go." Said Trox.

Samuel set off and his crew and Tiberius followed him. Before he could think any more, he remembered why he had come here and turned to Teekoy and Tiran once more. 

“Teekoy, you still have to apologize.”  
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Teekoy snorted an turned to Tiran. "I apologize for using you as a guinea pig. It will not happen again." He spoke solemnly.  
Tiran looked at Teekoy in silence for a moment before his echoing voice sounded: "this person accepts the apology.”

"So it’s now all settled between you?" Samuel asked.  
"Yeah, I guess.” Teekoy answered.  
"This person is of the opinion and hope that future disputes will be kept within acceptable limits." Tiran replied.  
“So Suvay, kchch, didn't think you could really fight back, kchch, not bad!" Teekoy laughed and continued his way together with Tiran  
“This person is indeed able to defend himself.”  
"You both fought well." Samuel said. A yap beside him, somewhere down below. "Yes, Tiberius, you too." He added.

He let the two of them and the rest of his crew go ahead and let his gaze wander over the trading floor. There was no trace of the drell. Varius had stopped and slowly returned to his commander. He stepped to him and Samuel looked at him. Varius put a claw on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about those guys." He said softly.  
Samuel nodded. And wanted to step back in confusion as the turian bent over to him.  
"Don't worry, I won't kiss you in public." He smiled.  
“You will not kiss me at all.” Samuel warned him.

What Varius did instead was still much too intimate, as Samuel found when he felt Varius' tongue licking across the cut. It burned again briefly, then the slightly throbbing pain had disappeared. It was a very strange moment.

“There you go. Feeling better?” Varius said softly and looked deep into the eyes of the white haired elf.  
“Uh...y-yes….thanks. I guess.” Samuel mumbled. 

He briefly struggled with his composure. He felt himself blushing and finally separated from Varius. He looked at him and smiled again.

"I wasn't fast enough, I'm sorry." Varius whispered.  
Samuel tried to keep his composure. "No harm done." He said succinctly. 

He passed Varius and headed for the stairs to the upper level. Varius silently followed him after he had looked behind him for a moment.

"Where did you suddenly come from?" Samuel asked, to end the silence that was uncomfortable for him.  
"I met Trox and we wanted to go for a drink. So it was a coincidence that we went to Kralla's Song." Varius replied. "By the way, we had been in the bar a few minutes longer. Trox wanted to intervene, but I told him to wait. So that you can have a good time." He added, amusedly.  
Samuel gave him a look.  
"A ‘good time’? How very thoughtful of you." He said a little bit snappy.  
"Hey, admit it, you missed this." Said Varius.  
"Getting into a bar fight? I'm not the type for that. I thought you knew me better."  
"Oh, I know you better than that." Varius replied, now watching the commander closely.

Samuel paused and looked at Varius with some consternation. You could clearly see he was struggling with a reaction. In the end he had decided to give him the cold shoulder.

"Now I remember why I don't want to have anything to do with you right now, Talorian." He said and went on.  
Varius suppressed a sigh. "I'm sorry, Commander."  
"It's all right." Samuel answered. 

They walked silently side by side back to the Phoenix, where their paths on board parted.


	22. Chapter 16: Sazalaar Club - you are here with me now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varius persuades a very stressed commander to go to Club Sazalaar with him to forget about a bad day. There they meet Jace Atrix, Varius friend from "old days" who makes certain plans for tonight when he meets Commander Wolfsbane. Varius also finds himself confronted again with his feelings for Samuel.
> 
> To get into mood, listen to this...  
> club music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exmubFmEmXE  
> Salsa scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5vEYAXmSg  
> Dance scene with Varius: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATPz-sd-i3U

Life as commander of a special unit of APEX, as captain of an alliance ship and as bodyguard of the emissary of humankind could bring great dangers. On some days it was harder to keep composure than on others. There were days when crew members came into conflict with each other and he intervened to settle the dispute, which usually worked out well. There were days when his superior at APEX reprimanded him for a mission that went wrong. And there were days when the emissary felt she had to reprimand the commander of the ship for a mission that went wrong, which caused a dispute because the commander had to made it clear that she must not interfere in APEX affairs. None of this was unusual, none of this was something he could not handle. But: if all this took place in just one day, it was **a litte bit** over the top!

Varius Talorian and Nakmor Trox Ghurak had gotten into each other enormously, on a current mission of all things, in the P-Nomad, because Varius for some reason had talked about the past of the krogans and turians, picking up the topic that was a red rag to all krogans: the genophage. His point of view was that without it the krogans would probably have destroyed the galaxy. Maybe it hadn't been that bad then. So. Trox belonged to those of his species who had survived the genophage, but bore a deep mental scar from it. The two of them had talked themselves into a rage, started to argue and when Varius had made exactly this statement about the genophage having been good after all, Trox had grabbed the turian.

There had been a scuffle in the back of the P-Nomad, which almost caused an accident to Samuel, who was at the wheel. Patricia, who had been sitting next to him in the passenger seat, had yelled at them until they made peace. But that had ruined the mood. The mission, which was to recover goods from a New Order hideout and eliminate the terrorists in the process, became a sheer disaster due to the lack of concentration and low morale within the squad. Patricia was injured, Varius almost shot Trox and Trox managed to blow up the hideout because in his rage he had smashed the gas tanks. The explosion had been violent but luckily the squad could escape by a fraction of an inch. Miraculously, Potter was the only one who had been slightly injured. The enemies had probably all perished in the explosion. But that was the only positive thing about the whole thing. None of the stolen goods that should have been secured had been salvageable. It was now up to the leader of the team, Samuel, to explain the whole thing to the Nexus – after he had to explain it superfluously to his sister.

General Zirkin Sulbani‘s hologram, salarian and deputy leader of the Nexus militia of the Nexus, flickered before Commander Wolfsbane. In the communications room he stood in front of her in his uniform with his hands crossed behind his back, in a taut posture, and let the rebuke of his superior pass over him without a word. She just finished this rebuke.

"We are well aware, Commander Wolfsbane, that you are still weakened by your collapse. We have taken this into account, but if you are unable to complete a mission like this without causing such a disaster, we may have to continue to suspend you and temporarily relieve you of your rank as APEX Commander.

Samuel swallowed. As always, he didn't let on what he was thinking and feeling. For a moment he lowered his eyes.

"I understand, Ma'am. Such a failure will not happen again." He replied.

Sulbani looked at him: "Do you feel able to continue your work? We will continue to assign you to easier missions."

"Yes, Ma‘am. And I feel able to continue." He acknowledged.

"I hope so for your sake. You are one of our best fighters. Do not fail us again like that, Commander Wolfsbane, understand?"

"Understood, Ma'am."

The salarian hologram disappeared and the transmission was over.

"Fuck!" Samuel hissed softly as he left the communication room. He almost collided with Varius, who just came around the corner.

"Wow, look out, Commander."

Samuel looked at him and thought about what to say or do. He wanted to give Varius a slap for his idiotic behaviour today but he called himself to order, just gave him an angry look and wanted to keep going.

"She has quite messed you up, huh?" Asked Varius,silently adding: „she shouldn‘t do that. That‘s my job. In another way.“ Samuel stopped. Quickly he added: "I am sorry about that. It is my fault."

"Yes, it is, indeed." Samuel replied succinctly. „And spare your stupid blathering, I‘m absolutely not in the mood for this!“  
"I‘m truly sorry.“ Varius mumbled, slightly cowering. „I ...suppose she recommended that the squad shouldn‘t form like this again." Varius considered.  
"I didn't tell her who had been there or who did or didn't do what." Samuel replied.

He went on slowly. Varius looked after him questioningly for a moment and then followed him.

"Did you not? Why?" He wanted to know.  
"Because it is immaterial. I am responsible for my crew. No matter how much shit they pull, I take responsibility. Besides, it's not my style to blame other people." Samuel replied.

Varius was silent. Then he said quietly: "Thank you, Commander. You prove again and again what a character you have."  
"Well, I hope it's not too bad." Said Samuel.  
"On the contrary. I'm glad to be on your team. And I think I speak for every single member." Said Varius.  
Samuel did not elaborate, "Have you spoken to Trox yet?" He asked.  
"Yes. apologized to him. Don't know if the old bone took it. He just said he was going to get drunk at Tartarus now."  
Samuel nodded and sighed. "Drunk. Sounds not bad. I think I'll grab a bottle of asari wine and retire to my quarters."  
"I don't suppose you'd like me to join you." Asked Varius.  
"No. I've had enough from everyone for today. I'm sorry." Samuel replied sullenly.

Varius smiled weakly. He couldn't be shaken off that easily. His commander was very stressed – for weeks because he hardly had a free minute, even at night and obviously didn‘t sleep well again. Varius had left him alone, had only approached him when it was important. Now he was of the opinion that he could try to distract him from his job as commander who was responsible for apparently half the galaxy. He could use a break. And relaxation. And relaxation, which above all he could give him. The training and meditations with Thantos may have been nice and good and certainly helped him, but in the end there were only a few things that could satisfy a body, or so Varius thought. Even though he knew, that Wolfsbane would never ever admit that.

Samuel was indeed irritated and tired. He was annoyed that his powers were a potential threat and that he was so weakened. And he missed the forests of Aya and .... Saraan. He had not seen or spoken to him for weeks. He had hoped that time would make him forget Saraan. Instead, the opposite had discreetly occurred. He had thought about him often since the day they had said goodbye to each other on Aya. And he had appeared to him in his dreams. Unfortunately always only in his nightmares. Trapped by flames. Samuel was exhausted, but he hated having to go to sleep because the nightmares had become strong.

"I would like to invite you to join me, Commander. As an apology. As a thank you. See it as you like. For today." He made Samuel stop and look at him. "Would you... do me the honor of accompanying me? Hm? Please?" Asked Varius. He tilted his head a little and put on the most lovely look a predatory turian was capable of.

Samuel's facial expression alternated between annoyed and amused. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and finally said: "Leave that doggy look. You can't do it as well as Tiberius anyway".

"Mh, too bad. I had hoped that Tiberius had taught me well enough." Joked Varius.

Samuel gently raised one eyebrow and indicated a thin smile.

"Come with me, Commander. I know a place where you can let off steam." When Varius saw Samuel's critical gaze, he added: "and, no, it is not here on the ship."

He waited, looking deep into the elf's eyes when Samuel quickly avoided his gaze.

"You won't give it a rest anyway, will you?" He asked.  
"Probably not, no." Varius replied, amused.  
„You can be really annoying, you know?“  
„In know.“  
Varius waited.  
"For the love of the three Gods, okay." Samuel sighed. "Let me put on some civilian clothes."

Ten minutes later, Varius and the commander left the Phoenix. It was convenient that they were on Kadara for the mission. Varius already had a location in mind, not Kralla's Song - there they were banned anyway - and not Tartarus. He would show Wolfsbane the Sazalaar. He did not know if Jace was there as well. But he didn't really care either. What was important to him was that Samuel had agreed to come with him. Varius took one of the "Kadara Racers", a ground vehicle that could be rented in Kadara Port now, and drove eastwards to Spirit's Ledge. Samuel knew that this part of Kadara was once teeming with pirates. But Varius assured him that this was a thing of the past. Samuel still remained skeptical. The Sazalaar, the former hiding place of the Three Sabres, was reached after about half an hour of travel. Varius parked and secured the vehicle. He would later maneuver it back to Kadara Port on autopilot, because he did not intend to stay completely sober.

"I didn't know that the former pirate's nest had been turned into a club." Said Samuel as he followed Varius to the building.  
"The Sazalaar has existed for about three years. Before that it was just another ramshackle heap of junk. But it turned out to be real nice." Said Varius. "I think you'll find this place quite a diversion, Commander." He added.

Samuel was not sure if it really was a good idea to come with Varius to this place. Maybe he had better stayed in the ship and get drunk there. Alone.

"Do not worry. I will take care of you." Varius whispered to him.  
"I'm not sure I should find that reassuring." Samuel replied somewhat distantly.  
"You're not afraid of me, though?" Varius asked playfully teasing.  
"Just keep your claws where I can see them, Varius." The elf calmly returned.

The Sazalaar was moderately visited at this hour. But that would probably change soon. For Samuel, there were enough people. Guests of all possible species were to be seen. The brightly lit colorful bar was the eye catcher of the establishment. On the dance floor a few asari were already moving in their provocative poses to changing spotlights. In the seating niches another group of asari was found, who obviously had something to celebrate. Several krogans sat together with some humans. In another corner a group of eight or nine turians sat and talked. Varius led Samuel to the bar and they sat down on stools. He himself had not looked around.

"Should be taken advantage of if you can still sit at the bar now. Normally you can hardly reach it anymore." Said Varius.

The bartender, a salarian, came to them. Varius ordered two drinks. When Samuel wanted to pay for his drink and activated his omnitool, Varius put a claw gently on his wrist and looked at him.

"Today everything is on me, Commander."  
Samuel looked at him a little rattled. "Uhm, thank you. But it's not necessary." He replied reluctantly.  
"Yes, it is. After all the trouble we – **I** have caused you today." Varius replied, releasing Samuel's wrist again.

Samuel nodded slowly and averted his gaze again. It was sweet to see how insecure he was, Varius thought. Apparently, being invited was something he rarely experienced. The bartender brought them the drinks they had ordered. Samuel took a sip, then he turned on the stool to the interior of the club and leaned with his lower back against the counter. Silently he watched the dancing asari. Yes he could understand why many people found them attractive. Whoever had a good figure, a pretty face and wore only a touch of clothing was definitely an eye-catcher.

Varius did not turn around at first. He took another sip and then looked at his commander. The lights above the bar had been provided with black light. The snow-white hair of the elf, which he had tied back in a braid, shone like a star. And his bright eyes also shimmered slightly through the black light. Varius sank into this view for a few seconds, resting his jaw on a claw. Damn, how could one be so forbidden attractive? This man was so beautiful for a human, even for an elf, that one had no other chance than to look at him dreamily. Varius sighed, but this was drowned out by the volume of the music. Fuck, he was so incredibly in love with this guy. And it was painful to have to hide it all the time, because the other one did not feel the same for him. Worse: he liked someone else.

Samuel, who had watched the asari dancing with such fascination, noticed the look resting on him at some point. At that very moment he turned his head to Varius, when a foreign turian, who sat with the larger group of his own kind, saw the white-haired man and fell into a state of staring.

"Uhm, is something wrong, Talorian?" Samuel asked.  
"You are radiant today, Commander." Varius replied and stood up again. Samuel raised one eyebrow and Varius pointed to the lamps with one claw.  
"The black light and your white hair."

Samuel looked down on himself and squinted at one of the white strands that had not been tied in the braid. In the meantime Varius ordered the second round of drinks and slipped Samuel the cup.

"Oh. Oh dear." He said.  
"I do not mind." Said the turian. „Looks stunning.“  
"Let‘s…. find another, darker place." Samuel suggested and reached for the next cup. He didn't like it when he was conspicuous. But that was often difficult with his appearance.  
"I am much too sober to shine." He murmured. Okay, that sounded weird. But it still made sense somehow.  
Varius smiled. "With pleasure. And we will change that sober today."

They got up from their stools and grabbed their drinks, when suddenly another turian approached them. He seemed determined and headed straight for them. Samuel looked at Varius. He also looked at the turian, but he seemed to have recognized him.

"Ah, Jace." Said Varius.

The way he said it was neither hostile nor averse, so it must have been an acquaintance or friend of his rigger. Samuel was silent at first and waited while he sipped from his drink. The stuff was much stronger than the previous one. What had Varius ordered? He would not need much of that swill to get as drunk as anything. He would enjoy it very carefully and slowly. Jace approached Varius and greeted him friendly.

"Good to see you, Vary. Seem to be in better spirits this time," said the turian whom Varius had called Jace.  
Varius smiled. "Yep, I feel better."  
"Tell me, did _you_ blow up half of Kadara today?" Jace asked cheekily.

Samuel blinked at the other turian, who was only slightly smaller than Varius. And then looked at his rigger.

"It wasn't me. Wild krogans do this." Varius replied.  
Samuel kept silent.  
"You could still hear the humming to Draullir. I hope the New Order has caught it."  
"You can assume so.“ Said Varius,

Jace now turned to Samuel.  
"But tell me, who is your companion? We're completely excluding him." He asked, looking Samuel deep into his eyes. He looked at him in a similar predatory way as Varius often did and made Samuel a little uneasy. But he did not let it show.

"Samuel Wolfsbane." Imagined Samuel himself without giving any titles or ranks. "And it doesn't matter that you talk without me. You seem to know each other."  
Jace nodded at him. "Oh yes, we know each other well from the old days. Jace Atrix. Varius and I were in the same unit in the Milky Way and have been…“, he looked at Varius in a meaningful way, „friends for a very long time."  
"I suppose you are in the Turian Division?" Samuel checked and was confirmed.  
"I'm the captain of my unit. Most of my unit is back there." He pointed with one claw to the back of the turian group. Then he looked at Varius: "You're welcome to join us." He added in a slightly curling voice.  
"Hmm, why not?" Agreed Varius and looked at Samuel.  
"If we are not disturbing you." He said politely.  
"Oh, no, not at all." Jace whispered and went ahead.

Samuel looked after him. Varius pushed him gently. "Well, come on. Don't be so suspicious all the time." He encouraged him.

Samuel looked at him briefly, then groped after Jace. Varius followed him and had time to look at the shimmering white hair of his crush. The group consisted of three women and five men. Two of the women seemed to be a couple, from the way they sat together. One had an arm around the shoulders of the other. This one leaned against the other woman. The turians scrutinized the two newcomers with partly curious, partly neutral glances. Apparently some of the turians already knew Varius, the rest got introduced, while Jace took over the introduction for Samuel and then sat down. Varius conducted Samuel between the sofa and the table and sat down next to him, so that Samuel finally sat between him and Jace.

"Well, Wolfsbane. Varius told me that you are his commander." Said Jace openly.  
"Has he." Mumbled Samuel and threw a glance at Varius. He ducked a little bit, which looked kind of funny.  
"I have reported only good things!" Insured the rigger.  
"He didn't report much, don't worry." Said Jace amusedly.

Samuel sipped his drink again and reminded himself repeatedly to be careful with this stuff. Yes, he had said that he wanted to get drunk today, but his plan was different than it was now. Here he would hold back. Or at least he would try.

"So if you ever wondered if you could ride a rylkor - yes, you can. My dear commander here did." Varius said at some point in the course of the conversations, which consisted mainly of small talk, some old stories and funny things.

"Why would someone ride that?" - "On a rylkor?" - "What was that again?" The other turians asked in confusion.  
Samuel shook his head gently and had to smile. "It was an emergency." He said.  
Jace looked at him. "Okay, you have to tell me."  
"I grabbed a rylkor here on Kadara and I rode it because I was chasing some New Order criminals." Samuel briefly explained and earned confused and interested looks.  
Jace and the other turians looked at him.  
"You were pursuing the New Order. On a rylkor." Said Jace monotonously. Samuel confirmed and Jace laughed.  
"That's genius! Oh, I wish I could have seen that."  
"You should have seen the stupid faces of these guys, Jace, when Wolfsbane came riding in." Varius grinned.  
"You're obviously very special, Wolfsbane." Said Jace, sipping his drink. And he looked at him over the rim of his cup.

Samuel shook his head gently, briefly evading the turian's intimate gaze.  
"Not at all. I just didn't have a fast car at hand.“ He replied.

His cup was now almost empty and he felt a little more relaxed.  
Varius smiled. "He is always so modest, my dear Commander. And he doesn't even need to be."  
"The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk." Samuel murmured into his cup.  
"Cute." Jace smiled. Samuel looked at him in a slightly bewildered way.

Jace told two of his group members to bring more drinks and urged them to make sure they brought Samuel something that would not poison him or make him dissolve from within.

"I think I'd better hold off on the drinking. This stuff here is treacherous." Samuel said.  
"Ah, I think we all need that today. Don't worry, I'm sure your wonderful sniper will look after you." Jace smiled and bent over to Samuel a little bit: "or both of us." he whispered softly to him.  
Samuel stiffened a little.  
"I...usually can take care of myself." He said softly.  
"Mm, yeah, I don't doubt that. "But it's always good to have a turian to take care of you, believe me." Jace replied gently.

Samuel didn‘tknow what to say first. He guessed what Jace was hinting at and immediately turned the wheel around again, when he said in a matter-of-fact tone: "yes, he is a capable, reliable man. An important crew member."

At that moment, Jace looked at Varius who looked back at him. The sniper shrugged his shoulders gently. Jace took a sip from his mug. Samuel felt a little bit dizzy. He was glad that he had been able to formulate his words so clearly and objectively. Actually, he hardly felt able to do so anymore. He put the cup down on the table and leaned back.

"What exactly did you order, Varius?" He asked.  
"Good question. I think it meant, um, something with asari." He replied.  
"Asari orgasm?" Grinned Jace. The other two looked at him. "Yes, that's what it means. "It's very mild at first, but then it'll knock you out."  
Samuel gently raised both eyebrows. "Oh dear. Yeah, that could be it. It was blue."

Jace activated his omnitool and called up the club's drink menu.  
"Let's see what they got. Asari wine, asari orgasm, Blue Velvet...oh, batarian whisky? Who drinks that swill. Wild eiroch? Ah yes, tastes terrible. Turian brandy...."  
"Eiroch? I've had enough of those for now." Samuel said.  
"Ooh, that's right. Jace, my esteemed commander here can not only ride rylkor, but almost single-handedly kill an ancient eiroch." Said Varius,  
Jace looked at him. "Oh yeah?"  
"With two ssari swords." Varius added.  
Samuel now blushed slightly and lowered his head a little. "I wouldn't have killed the cattle without your help and the others'." He muttered.

Now the other turians, who hadn't gone to get drinks, also became aware. They wanted to hear this story. Samuel didn't like it, but Varius didn't let it stop him, and told them how the commander with the two swords had jumped around on the huge cattle like a cat of prey, injuring it severely several times.

"Don't forget how Trox and the other krogan kept the eiroch in check and distracted it. And how you yourself shot down all the kaerkyn with one shot each." Threw Samuel into the story, which Varius made very epic.

"Ah, yes, well, the two krogans distracted it quite well, so that Wolfsbane could climb on the head of the cattle. You should have seen the jump and the two flashing blades that he rammed into its fat skull. That looked really movie-like!" Continued Varius, who had even gotten up to gesticulate.

The turians looked around with partly impressed, partly disbelieving, partly amused faces, alternating between Varius and Samuel. Samuel was obviously embarrassed that his rigger and sniper praised him so much. One of the turians who had gone to the bar came back with one drink each in his claws. Varius, who was already standing anyway, was ordered to help. Another one stood up, probably to help as well, and the one who had brought the two drinks sat down. Jace also remained seated and turned to Samuel.

"Most impressive, Commander. You seem to be a real danger in close combat.“ He said.  
Samuel looked at him. "I prefer hand-to-hand combat, that's right. However, I will probably have to resort more to ranged weapons and heavier armor in the near future."  
"To fight as Vary described, I suppose you need great flexibility and body control, I suppose?" Jace asked and smiled.  
"Uhm, yes... body control and constant training is important." Samuel replied not getting what Jace actually meant.

The look of the turian made him slightly nervous. However, he also felt the alcohol inside him, which didn't let him keep his distance when Jace put one arm on the back of the sofa, close to Samuel's shoulders.

"Mmm. It all sounds quite seductive.“ Whispered Jace.  
"Seductive? Well... I... don't know?" Samuel replied insecure.

Jace smiled slightly. He looked deep into the elf's eyes. Samuel felt a tingling sensation coming up.

"You're really cute." Said the turian said amused.  
„Yeah well...uhm…“ Samuel didn‘t know what to do and nervously scratched his backhead, looking away.  
„I wouldn‘t have expected you‘re such a cutie.“ Jace whispered to him.  
Samuel stared at him an turned red: „w-what?“

The turian giggled. Man, that guy was sweet, he would so bang him tonight. Jace ran his claw gossamer-like over the white-haired man's shoulder facing the sofa. Samuel swallowed. But he felt much too lethargic to move away. In addition, the alcohol caused a certain increased trustfulness.

"Can you dance?" He asked then. He already knew this from Varius, but Samuel did not need to know that.  
"Yes, a little." He replied.  
"Then let's dance!" Said Jace, turning his head. "After the drinks."

Varius and the other two turians returned with the remaining cups and placed them on the table. They were distributed and this time Samuel asked Jace what he would get for the drink. He looked at him amused.

"Nothing, my treat, Wolfsbane." He replied. "I'll just take a few credits from Vary if I have to." He added, grinning boldly at Varius.  
"Anyway, I said your drinks are on me, Commander." Said the rigger.  
"I'm really not used to being invited." Said Samuel and took the cup that Jace had put in front of him.  
"All right, if you insist on paying..." Jace started his sentence but did not finish it at first.

They toasted each other - turians, like every species, like humans, had their own toasts - and then enjoyed a sip or the entire contents of the cup. Samuel sipped from his cup. He had smelled that the stuff was strong. To tip it now would most likely not be forgiven by his body so easily. Jace turned back to the elf and put his arm back on the sofa. Varius, who was sitting next to Samuel, watched them relaxed.

"How about a kiss as payment?" Jace whispered seductively to him after he had bent over to Samuel.

He seemed to wait for Wolfsbane's reaction. Samuel stared at Jace and gasped for words. He had not expected this "payment". Such situations were fundamentally among those he did not know how to deal with. He had no problem telling a group krogans to behave when they were about to cause trouble or to put a troop of turians in their places, if this was necessary. But Jace had successfully lured him out of his reserve.

"So shy?" Said Jace amused.

The turian grinned and came even closer. Samuel, without realizing it, moved back a little and leaned slightly against Varius. He certainly did not resist. He watched them both. It was really funny how helpless his commander was in such moments. He knew that he was otherwise extremely controlled and stable. But when it came to such situations, he was overwhelmed.

"Uhm..." he hesitated but then said: "no, I just... didn't expect that. And I rather take the credits as a payment."

Varius supported his head laterally on a claw bent to his fist while supporting the elbow of his arm on the sofa and continued to follow the scenario taking a sip from his cup. Jace became even more aggressive and stroked Samuel's jaw with a claw. He swallowed. Obviously Jace was everything else but shy. Suddenly, an arm wrapped itself gently around him from behind and pulled him back. At the same time he heard Varius' voice next to him. He sounded amused, and there was an indication in his voice that he did not dislike what was happening.

"Don‘t scare my sweet commander, Jace." he said.

Samuel broke away from Varius and threw a half-hearted admonishing glance at him. Varius replied with a dearest turian smile and winked at his commander.

"I told you not to call me that." He complained softly.  
"Oh, but he is right. You're cute." Said Jace.

"Stop pestering the poor guy like that, you predators, he's already intimidated!"  
One of the other turians, one of the three women in fact, shouted laughing, whereupon Jace turned to her and gurgled: "I perfectly behave like a gentleman.“  
Then he turned back to Samuel and said softly to him, "Or more: I haven't even started yet.“

Samuel reached for his cup. Actually he didn't want to drink anything, he just wanted to hold on to something and put it between himself and Jace. He took his cup, which he had had on the table all along, a long drink and.

„Whatever you mean.“ He murmured.  
"Still so tense, huh? You should loosen up. We won't hurt you. We're just playing a little." Jace whispered to him before he drank.  
"I never play." Samuel replied, after taking another careful sip. The stuff was diabolical.  
"Well, at least dance with me then, huh?" Said Jace and looked briefly at Varius. "If it's all right with Vary." He added.  
Samuel gently raised one eyebrow. "I don't know that he has to be asked for permission."

Varius ran the tip of his blue tongue over his horn-rimmed lips. His mandibles twitched and he looked at Jace, who guessed what was going on in the mind of his former gang mate. The alcohol eventually even made the rigger speak some of his thoughts:

"I wish that were so." He whispered in Samuel's ear.

Samuel turned his head and skeptically looked at Varius. He gave him a strange smile which was uncomfortable for the elf. He was silentuntil Jace stood up and grabbed him by the wrist to pull him with him.

"Let's go dancing. I bet I'm better than Vary this night!"  
"Was that a challenge?" Varius asked.  
"It might have been!" Said Jace.

Somehow that all sounded like an innuendo to something different, Samuel thought but decided to fergout about that.

The three of them went to the dance floor, followed by two other members of the team and mingled with the other guests. The dance floor was full, but there was still enough freedom of movement. Heavy dark electric synthetic sounds currently came out of the jukeboxes. The music here varied greatly. Samuel knew only a few terms from other planets, but most of the sounds were pleasant and catchy. The music was not bad and one could move to it. And as for that, he had to admit that Jace was also able to move. He had already got to know Varius' dancing skills. However, this seemed to be a kind of racial characteristic of the turians. Might be due to the protruding hips, which all turians, male or female, had because of their very narrow waist, Samuel pondered. He observed Jace dancing with his back to him, which gave him the opportunity to internalize his theory more deeply. Varius noticed the look of his commander and he stepped up to him.

"Do you like Jace?" He asked. In his voice, there was no sign of what he thought.  
Samuel looked at him. „I was just thinking about the fact that turians can move very smoothly because of their physique. A purely scientific consideration." He replied.  
"Of course. Purely scientific." Said Varius and smiled.  
"Yes, what else could I think?" Samuel asked tersley.  
"It's all right, Commander." Varius smiled.

Before Samuel, an asari with purple skin and a white pattern all over her face suddenly appeared and smiled. Judging by her face, she was a little older, but obviously still had fun dancing in provocative clothes. And she obviously didn't want to do that all by herself anymore.

"Hey, shall we dance?" She asked Samuel and smiled openly at him.  
"Well...we already do, don‘t we?" He replied, smiling narrowly back at her.  
She giggled. „Yes, you‘re right. I know it sounds like a stupid pick-up line, but I noticed you! Your hair and your eyes. And your pointed ears. You're an elf, right?"  
Samuel said yes.

Varius disliked the performance of the asari, but he held back, especially since Jace started dancing with him now. He pulled his former gang mate aside a bit and grinned at him.

"Don't get jealous now. You can dance with me, too."

Varius smiled grumpy, but then danced on with Jace, Serax and Septimus, the other two from the group.

The asari introduced herself as Zabeza. She was pretty, he had to admit. But that was another racial characteristic of the asari. They all looked pretty and had an impeccable figure. Partly this led to the fact that one had difficulties to distinguish them. But surely it was the same for the asari when they saw humans, turians, krogans or salarians. Samuel knew that he liked both women and men, but he was never quite sure about the asari. He was not even sure if he found them appealing at all, regardless of his sexual orientation. They were predators in their own way. Nevertheless he danced with her. As if on cue, the electronic music now slid over to a kind of salsa melody.

Zabeza looked at him grinning and began to move her hips and started to dance salsa steps to the beat of the music. Samuel let himself in and grabbed the asari by the hip, her hand with his and they began to move together to the Spanish rhythm. She mastered the steps of the southern Spanish dance very well, he could lead her almost perfectly across the dance floor. They turned, she let herself fall backwards, danced away from him and came back to him with a daring quick turn. Applause and whistles from a group of other asari who sat with some salarians and drell. Zabeza threw a kissing hand to the group. Probably they were friends. Samuel smiled thinly and whirled with her across the dance floor. Zabeza's tight-fitting short dress blew around her shapely legs.

Varius and Jace of course watched those two.

„Man, that guy can dance. Bet he‘s as good in bet as on the dance floor, huh, Vary?“ Jace said.  
„Hrm, yeah, yeah. Wish he would dance with me than with that asari.“ Varius answered.  
„Ah, come on, you grumpy idiot!“ Jace laughed, grabbed Varius and they started to dance.

And those two turians could dance salsa! They easily competed with the other dancing couple and also received a lot of applause and whistles - of course especially from the group of turians, who watched them euphorically. Samuel looked at them and had to admit it was impressive. Nevertheless it really was a pleasure to dance with Zabeza and Samuel even forget he usually was shy with that. Only the black high heels were probably not her allies. Just before the song ended, Zabeza buckled and fell with a surprised scream.

Samuel reacted reflexively and made a lunge, which was usually done when avoiding a weapon that was swung to the side. A notorious movement from the Seheron Nhaga, but he did not pay attention to it now. He caught Zabeza before she came painfully onto the dance floor and held her in his arms. Legs stretched out to the side, she now lay half on one knee of Samuel. Her baffled expression changed to one of grateful amusement.

"Oh, thank you, my hero!" She laughed, grabbed his head sideways with one hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  
Samuel blinked at her embarrassed. "You're welcome." He murmured.

They stood up together and Zabeza tilted her head slightly crooked while she looked at him smiling. She invited him to have a drink with her at the bar. Samuel accepted, but insisted on paying. She did not let him tell her twice. At the bar the conversation quickly developed in a certain direction.

"Have you slept with an asari yet?" Zabeza asked as directly as a pistol shot.  
"Uhm, no...never." Samuel replied, a little perplexed.

Jace in the meantime pushed Varius: "hey, I guess the asari wants to take away your little hot elf.“ He teased his friend.  
Samuel tipped the drink. She followed his lead and looked to the dance floor. The salsa music had given way to a romantic song, where the dancing guests were either encouraged to dance tightly and slowly with a partner of choice, or to take off.

„I can show you some pretty things if you like.“ Zabeza said in a flirty way.  
„Well, I….“

Samuel was not sure what to make of this offer. Actually, it sounded good. But he shouldn't accept such offers if he was drunk - and the drink had made sure that he returned to a more drunken level in spite of a rapid salsa performance. However, this little adventure ended even before it had begun, when Varius appeared.

"My round, lady." He said, smiling but tearing her apart in his mind.  
Zabeza looked disappointed. "Oh! Well, maybe some other time, huh?"

She gave Samuel an enchanting smile. So beautiful that he even looked at her as she walked away. This did not quite suit the jealous little voice in Varius. He turned Samuel away from the disappearing asari by leading him to the dancefloor.

"She's got one hell of a hip swing." Samuel said.  
Varius shrugged his shoulders gently. "Asari indeed. They all learn to dance in bars. On tables."  
Samuel raised one eyebrow: "You are not jealous, are you?"  
Varius looked at him and bent over a bit to speak more quietly: "And if I were?"

Samuel let this counter-question sink in. "That would be strange." He murmured.

He allowed Varius to put his claws to his hips and even to pull him slightly to his body. He himself put his hands on Varius' forearms. Probably so he could push him away if he went too far.

"Actually, I told you never to touch me again." Said Samuel, when they were close enough together without screaming at each other.

Varius took the commander's wrist and led it to his shoulders to place it there. He smiled at him.

"I know. But I'm not a nice guy. And a nasty opportunist." He replied softly.  
"You break the rules, rigger." Samuel said without sounding really upset.  
"So are you." The turian answered.  
"Oh, yeah?"  
"Mmm. You're getting involved with me right now.“

They looked deep into each other's eyes in this moment. Okay, he wouldn't do this if he wasn't, well, in this very condition. One simply became more trusting and, dear, the music was also kind of animating. Or was it just Varius with his charme? Yeah, it was more that. And that was the dangerous thing. So Samuel wanted to break away from Varius. He was back in a state that was dangerous for him personally, as he realized. For he was again getting too involved in things that his morality would otherwise not allow. Last time, things had happened that should not have happened. The combination of alcohol and Varius was apparently always fatal.

"Mh, no. … I'm... doing something again that I will probably regret." He spoke softly and lowered his eyes.  
Varius held him for a moment. "There is no one you owe account to. Except yourself, Commander." He said. "Drift tonight. I‘ll watch over you."  
Samuel looked at him skeptically. "I've seen your kind of watching out."  
"I won't do anything you don't want me to. I promise. Varius said softly. _But what I do, you will want for everything, my sweetheart_ , He added in his mind. „Just….enjoy the moment...with me.“ He whispered making Samuel shiver.  
„I hate it when you...are like this.“ Samuel replied. „This and...my drunkenness.“

Varius just smiled. Samuel gave a silent sigh and remained with his rigger. They continued to dance to the kind of music that made couples go for physical contact. One fell for the sound. Let onerself drift, drift away with the current, let the melody work, listen to the sung words that told of love, longing, pain and joy. Unbelievably corny, this situation. But in these minutes it even took Samuel with it, where he normally had no sense for such things.

Samuel had reached a point he had last experienced when he had been 16 years old and, completely drunk, had been making out with a friend. He had felt so euphoric. Yes, almost in love. But he had just been very drunk. And probably on drugs. Varius wasn't usually a guy who liked such music or danced to it. With the commander, however, things were very different now. He listened to the music and of course the song spoke to him at the moment - partly - from his soul.

_... If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today? …  
... If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all? … _

_... I never know what the future brings  
But I know you are here with me now ..._

These silly romantic songs could sometimes be really true. Varius looked at Samuel again.

"You brood far too much, Commander."  
"Mm, yeah... 'cause I... feel strange." He answered and shook his head gently.  
Varius smiled. "Strange huh? How strange?"  
"I don't know .... strange like drunk just now. Not..really sane."

Jace left them alone. He watched them from the bar and grinned. Above all, he observed Varius. He was so hopelessly in love. Poor guy. Would it work out? Somehow he had a rather dark premonition. But Varius seemed to be as good as love-locked. To come to his senses was probably already too late. Jace drank from his cup and watched the scenario unfold between the two of them. Varius looked at the elf. He enjoyed these moments. If only they could always happen like this. He pulled Samuel a little closer to him. And he looked up at him. It was good that he had his natural breastplate around him. Otherwise Wolfsbane would now hear his heart beating in his chest, he thought to himself. Samuel allowed the more intimate physical contact and also that Varius put one arm on his back.

"If only you were like this when sober." Varius sighed softly.  
"If only I were what?" Samuel asked.  
Varius smiled, shyly this time. "So cuddly and trusting."

Samuel gently raised one of his black eyebrows. Varius leaned a little towards him. Still they stood close together, still Samuel had placed his hands on Varius' shoulders. Varius looked deep into his eyes. The claw on the elf's back stroked gently up and down in infinitely slow motion.

"Mh, I feel so woozy." Samuel muttered and closed his eyes. "So much for...no more alcohol. You somehow seduce me every time. This....is not good."

„I love to seduce you.“ He answered cheeky.  
„Idiot.“ Samuel mumbled.

Varius smiled. He himself felt drunk and nervous. And in love. And drunk. And in love. He leaned his forehead against that of the human. Among turians this was already a kind of kiss. So now it was in any case an expression of his affection. The music was also so eerily appropriate. He got an idea why especially humans always went for such tearjerkers when they were in the right mood.

Samuel could only say about his current condition that he obviously was so finished with this day that he now danced with his rigger to that mushy music being in this pseudo-romantic mood, wondering what else might happen tonight. He closed his eyes as he felt Varius gliding gently with his nose over Samuel's. A turian's nose was as ossified like the part of a helmet. He came closer and closer to him. Samuel could feel the breath on his upper lip. Should he push him away? Normally he would do it. But somehow he needed that very closeness now. Even if it was not good. But...now... he just felt the need. Suddenly, for a moment, a thought flickered through his mind: if it only were Saraan. Fuck. No. What was he even thinking? And then it just happened.

He felt Varius' lips on his own. His rigger began to kiss him all of a sudden, surprisingly carefully and tenderly. And Samuel let it happen. A shiver went through his body and he felt even warmer than he had felt from alcohol alone. Varius pulled him closer when he noticed that his commander allowed the kiss and put one claw to the back of his head while the other held his upper body. His heart seemed to beat even faster. He forgot where they were and how many other beings were moving around them, even the music lost its color, the smell of the surroundings ebbed. He only perceived the white-haired human in front of him. Yes, he too was drunk, but, fuck, that was no alcohol euphoria. He loved Samuel. And he put that intimate feeling as deeply as he could into that kiss. _I love you!_

Samuel, despite the alcohol that was flowing through his body and clouding his mind, felt that this kiss was of deeper meaning. He had begun to respond to it and felt Varius becoming more intimate. His abdomen began to tingle. Warmth rose in him as he felt Varius' tongue at his lips, which was desiring to enter. But within the intoxication of feelings and alcohol, the voice of conscience in Samuel came up at that moment and he released the kiss by turning his head slightly away and lowering it. He also slowly released the embrace.

"Whew..no, no further...I...am .....not me..." He said.

Varius looked at him and slowly released his claws from the human. He took a step back and looked around. Now was a good time to go outside and get some fresh air. Samuel left the dance floor, followed by Varius. Jace, who had watched them, was quite taken with the kissing scene. He followed them leisurely when he saw them moving towards the exit. Before that he took two bottles of alcohol with him. One for him and Varius - stuff that would kill the handsome commander - and one for Wolfsbane. The alcohol was light and insidious anyway. But Jace wanted to make sure that he was wrapped up to him tonight.

He operated a bit closer to the edge of legality and sometimes he made the odd questionable deal. Since his last conversation with Varius here at the club, he had been casually on the lookout for a drug dealer during several missions, especially on Kadara and Elaaden and had of course found one. From him he had purchased a "pleasure drug", among other things, which made it much easier to get the person who took the stuff to have lustful hours. It was a pill that dissolved immediately in liquid. In alcohol it had an even more fatal effect. But since it was a whole bottle and Jace did not intend to infuse Samuel with the entire contents, the effect would not be so violent. But it would make the somewhat unruly elf much more sociable from a certain point on. In his condition he wouldn't need much of it anymore to become as good as a lamb. And above all willing. Jace had his wishes for tonight. And he wanted to fulfill them. The pill disappeared inside the bottle before the turian closed it again and went after them.

Samuel's walk was relatively fast, so he stepped out into the night air of Spirit's Ledge only moments later. He walked past a group of human women who were looking after him and entered the large platform where the shuttles of the Three Sabres used to land after raiding.

Varius had followed him. And Jace had followed Varius. The latter held himself in the shade and leaned against one of the steel pillars, his arms crossed in front of the armored chest. Samuel ran his hand over his face and rubbed the root of his nose with his fingers. Varius approached him carefully.

"Everything okay, Commander?" he asked quietly.  
"I'm all right." Samuel replied.

Varius hesitated. Then he put a claw on one of Samuel's shoulders and turned him towards himself. Samuel followed the movement and looked at Varius. Varius returned his gaze. Should he tell his commander how he felt? Here and now? Was here a good time? At some point he simply had to tell him. Damn it! Why not now? He took a breath. Shit, man, he was turian! He wanted to start talking, but Samuel beat him to it.

"We have to stop this, Varius. Going for a drink is okay, but....but no...no more." Said the elf.

Varius bit his fangs together. That hurt somehow now. He pushed the feeling away, then stepped closer to his commander. "And if I don't want it to stop? If... if I want more?"

Samuel looked at him questioningly. "What...do you mean?"  
Varius swallowed. "Commander, I...I like you. I like you a lot. I told you back on the mission to Kadara that feelings were just a distraction." He lowered his eyes. "Things might have changed."

Samuel heard a warning voice cry out through the fog the intoxication had created in his mind. He shook his head gently.

"I...am far too drunk for such subjects." He said, smiling dazedly. "Let's just drop it."  
Varius tilted his head slightly and looked at his dazed commander. "Whatever you say, Commander." He said, smiling thinly.

Soberly, Wolfsbane was just as unwilling to talk about this subject as when he was drunk. Actually, it was hopeless, wasn't it? However, after the emotional part had gone missing, the physical one remained.

"I can think of another subject." He whispered and with one claw gently drove along the elf's neck.

Samuel looked at him. Jace now came strolling towards the two of them, waving the bottles in his claws. "Shall we clear off? I have the place almost to myself on the Paladin today, since almost all of my crew members are here." He grinned.  
"Sounds good." Replied Varius.  
"Very well." Samuel said lightly.

Jace approached him with a smile and grabbed him by one wrist before pulling him along. Samuel let him do it and groped after Jace. His ability to react and coordinate was virtually at zero for an adept at that moment. Varius followed them until he caught up with them and led them to the ground vehicle with which he and the commander had come here. Varius sat down in the driver's seat, but activated the autopilot because he wanted to and could not drive on his own anymore. Or better: maybe he should not risk it. He entered a program that would take them back to Kadara Port and shortly afterwards the vehicle started moving.


	23. Interlude 7: Hot Night After Sazalaar’s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace is keen on Samuel and makes sure that he reaches his target to seduce him. In an abandoned building the three of them experience a hot night together.
> 
>  **WARNING!!** This interlude contains explicit homosexual content. If you don’t like it don’t read it.

Jace and Samuel were seated in the back seats. Samuel tried to clear his head, but Jace would not let him do so. It was not difficult to offer him at least a sip from the bottle. Satisfied, he watched the elf drank. That would definitely help him to become more relaxed. He was obviously very interested in the attractive human and not shy to show him. He leaned over to him and whispered something in his ear, whereupon Samuel looked at him irritated. Jace laughed softly.

"You are so easily upset with words like that, Wolfsbane. Really sweet."

Varius turned so that he could watch them both and supported one forearm on the edge of the seat, so that he could put his chin on his arm again. The other free claw moved to Samuel's thigh and gently stroked it.

"Hey, be good, Jace. He's mine." He said with a smile.  
"I'm never good. Neither are you." Jace replied, amused.  
"Be….besides, you have... no property to claim, Talorian, understand?" Said Samuel. It was supposed to sound harsher but it just wasn’t at all.  
"Yes, Commander." Clucking Varius.  
"He's extremely fond of you, Wolfsbane. You know that? Very. Extremely." Said Jace.  
“Bad...bad idea. That..... just causes bad blood." Samuel mumbled.  
"Let's forget about feelings tonight." Varius decided - he didn't want Jace to ride it any more - and continued to stroke Samuel's thigh with his claw, lost in thought.

"Only the disturbing ones." Said Jace in a quiet, seductive tone, before he suddenly became foolhardy and crossed the last line. He had been watching Samuel the whole time, trying to find out when the drug started working. Now he just took a chance.

He leaned over to him and, in gentle provocation, ran his blue tongue across the elf's neck. Samuel was too perplexed at first to react. Nobody knew that another substance had been added to the treacherous alcohol, except Jace. Varius gave a soft growl as he watched his conspecific work his way from the neck to Samuel's jaw and then kissed him in a rather rough way.

The kiss hurt, more from the way Jace kissed than from the turian anatomy, even though Jace used his tongue. Turian's had no lips and they were not soft. There were more plates that reminded a little bit of a bird's beak. Therefore, many compared this species to avian ones. The closest they came, of course, was the image of an extremely dangerous bird of prey. And Samuel just felt as if he had gotten into the clutches of such a bird of prey.

He reached for the claw in his crotch to pull it away but Jace continued to tease and kiss him and somehow he started to like that although he wasn't the type for such things. That’s why he allowed Jace to push him deeper into the seat. Varius bit his fangs together while his mandibles twitched tensely. That was just damn hot, but somehow it also made him jealous as hell. He actually did not want anyone other than himself to touch Samuel like that. So he grabbed Jace by one shoulder and pulled him away before he let go of him again.

"Don't...!" Samuel gasped breathlessly in that moment.

Jace smiled at him. "Don't worry. I am...at least as good as Vary. If not better." He purred.  
"Certainly not better than me." Said Varius, grabbing Jace by the neck.

Surprised, he let himself be pulled back. Varius gave him a predator grin. Samuel watched them both. He remained, more or less sitting, rather lying on the back seat and stroked one of the white strands from his face. Varius looked at him before he sighed with pleasure. This sight was enough to melt away. Jace separated from Varius again.

"Very well, I am good for now. But I won't stay that way for long. He is much too hot..." He said and lustfully looked at Samuel again.

He was about to answer when a bump in the road made the vehicle rock. This caused Varius to turn around and look outside through the windshield. He looked at the display in the dashboard, then outside again. “Hmm.”

"What is it?" Samuel asked.  
"Nothing. I'd better monitor the autopilot a little closer though." Varius replied and turned forward again.  
"Do that, Vary. Your honey is in good claws here." Said Jace and grinned with amusement when he saw Samuel's critical gaze.  
"Honey?" He repeated.

Jace smiled and bent over to Samuel again. He put a claw with a bent forefinger to his chin and held him tight. Close to the elf's lips he whispered to him.

"It’s a nice thought, I think. Or would you rather be interested in me?"  
"Jace!" Growled Varius.  
"Just kidding, relax." Said Jace. Damn it, he didn't want to be a good boy and keep still.

Samuel didn't know what to say. He felt strangely agitated. For a moment his gaze twitched between Jace's glowing eyes and his lips. Jace reached for the bottle again and took a sip before he held it out to Samuel. He drank from it. Damn compulsion when you've had one too many already. That stuff worked. The intoxication somehow slowed everything down and also gave him strange ideas. What was actually in that bottle? Hallucinogens? He just couldn't even think that word correctly anymore. Jace noticed that the human started to became more dizzy and furthermore perceived that he in his dizziness was looking at the turian’s plate mouth, albeit for a different reason than the one Jace presumed. But he didn’t care and leaned even closer to him. Samuel looked into his eyes where Jace could see that the drug was working.

"Don't be shy, my pretty one." He whispered to him and gently put a claw under his chin. "Kiss me if you want."

Samuel swallowed as his throat dried. Shit, yes, he kind of wanted to kiss Jace, but why? Jace wanted Wolfsbane to have only one thing in mind tonight. He and Varius were already after it. Now only the elf had to be pushed in the right direction. That wasn’t very hard anymore. He took the initiative and ran the tip of his tongue over the elf's lips and demanded admission. Samuel shuddered as he let the kiss happen and felt Jace immediately become a little more demanding. He pressed him onto the seat with gentle force and kissed him further. A claw wandered down slowly and uninhibitedly over his body. Samuel gasped softly and let the turian grant. What did he do? Why couldn’t he resists?! What was wrong with him? He was overwhelmed. He gasped, as Jace's claw slid over the bulge in Samuel’s trouser and began to massage him while forcing a dizzying kiss on him. The other claw grabbed him softly but in a possessive way by the throat. Fuck, did that guy drive a hard bargain! Samuel moaned slightly.

Varius in the front seat looked in the rearview mirror and rumbled softly. His claw, which was around the steering wheel, tightened so much that the material underneath crunched softly. He could barely concentrate on the display. Especially not when he heard his beloved commander moan. Jace had used his claw to find his way under the white-haired man's pants and underwear and grabbed his best piece, which he now began to massage without hesitation, albeit gently at first.

"Ah....shit..what..is wrong with me..." He gasped.  
"You probably just need it bad, my dear Commander." Jace whispered to him. "But...don’t worry. We’ll give you what you need." He purred excited.  
"He definitely needs more sex. But he never admits it." Varius mused. "Jace, don't push him too hard or I'll come back and get it all from you." Said Varius.  
Jace turned his head and gave Varius a beguiling look. "No problem, Vary." He said.

He looked at Samuel again, who seemed to be struggling with himself and his self-control. His claw was still around Samuel's penis, but had stopped working in the meantime.

"You're not getting away from me tonight, sweetheart." He whispered in his ear again that Samuel got goose bumps.

Still, he grabbed Jace's wrist and pulled it out of his pants. "But not here. T-take...you claws off..." He gasped, which made Jace laugh softly.

He left it at that, but stifled any further protest in another hearty kiss. Varius watched the two. Damn, he was anything but cold. He should have thrown Jace into the driver's seat! He stared out, through the windshield. Finally the lights of Kadara Port came into view.

"Jace, slow down or do you want us all to have to walk through Kadara Port with a boner?"  
"I think we already do." Jace smiled as he interrupted the kiss.  
"I...walk certainly... not so through Ka-Kadara...." Gasped Samuel. Fuck, his articulation had been better before.

The turian looked at him briefly. Then he turned his head and looked out through the windshield. He pointed to a building that was almost swallowed by the darkness.

"Let's make ourselves comfortable there!" He suggested.

Samuel looked from him to the windshield and then to Varius. His abdomen was pulsating and as far as his mental capacity was concerned at the moment, it was on the verge of oblivion. Actually he was no longer sure if all this was real. It could not be real. Not for someone like him.

Varius suddenly grabbed the wheel and turned it around. He apparently agreed to Jace's proposal immediately. He too had no desire to walk through Kadara Port, while he had to struggle with himself not to attack Jace or Wolfsbane. He drove the vehicle with almost breakneck speed towards the building that was approaching much too fast. Samuel sat up in his seat and stared forward. Actually, he was the only one who was speeding. Sometimes.

"Wowowowow, Talo-....Ta...slow down!" Samuel shouted startled.  
Even Jace opened his eyes: "Varyyyy?!"

Varius just grinned and raced towards the lake in front of which the building stood. In the past all these lakes did not contain clear, drinkable water, but pure acid. They often contained corpses that had been produced in Kadara Port. Today the wildlife of Kadara took care of them. Even though the water was no longer a threat, some of the lakes were very deep. And nobody wanted to sink into them. Samuel and Jace looked at each other and then stared again through the window between the front seats. Samuel buckled up immediately and Jace did the same. The flash of inspiration to finally fasten the seat belts came not a second too soon. Varius made an emergency stop and the tires squealed. The vehicle slipped a few meters over the sandy stone floor, describing half a curve as it came ever closer to the lake. It came to a halt right next to the water. Millimeters away from the embankment.

At first there was silence. Varius unbuckled his seatbelt and grinned.

"There you go. Millimeter work." He said and looked back. "I still got it."

Jace and Samuel looked as if they had just seen their lives flash before their eyes before certain death. Slowly, they released from their rigidity. Samuel took a deep breath. That had made him clearer for a few minutes at least. But this state would not last long.

"Kalahira, help." He murmured. Then he looked at Varius in a shallow tinge of anger. "Have.... Are you out of your mind?"

Varius tilted his head a little bit diagonally like a bird that didn't understand what was wanted from him and smiled fanged. "Somehow I had to get you two back to a lower level."

"You're an ass, Vary!" Said Jace, apparently angry, but then laughed. "Shit, that was a brake. You're still driving like old times."

All three noticed that they were a bit wobbly on their legs when they left the vehicle. Nevertheless, this did not prevent Varius from remaining foolhardy. He turned to his commander, who was about to activate the communication program of his omnitool, while Jace fished the two bottles of alcohol from the vehicle. With a simple movement of his claw, the rigger deactivated the omnitool's display and made Samuel look at him.

"No more urgent missions today, my sweet Commander." He said, smiling mischievously.  
"I said to you do-oooohhh! Varius!"

Jace pushed himself out of the car and saw Varius snottily grab the elf and throw him over his shoulder. All protesting didn't help as the rigger carried him towards the building with a soft happy buzz. Jace laughed.

"Well, Commander, this turian has conquered you and is now taking you with him. Didn't it used to be something like this on earth?" He giggled and strolled after them.  
"Yes, that's where... that... damsel's been stolen. You'isten, Talorian, damsels! Lem...lem......lemme down!" Samuel continued to protest, obviously having difficulty expressing himself.  
Varius patted the elf on the butt. "In a moment, I must take you to my castle, beautiful damsel." He giggled.

Granted, Varius' "parking maneuver" had let them all cool down a bit. Temporarily. Jace would definitely pick up where he left off. The alcohol, discreetly mixed with the drug, had been very helpful there. With a bit of luck it was actually quite comfortable in there. Remembering that, he turned around and tore out all the sleeping gear he could find. Blankets and pillows. There wasn't much there, but it would be enough for a little more cosiness. And mood. Varius carried Samuel further and stomped up the steps. He kicked open the old metal door with a foot, which also had two mighty claws - turian's were toe walkers - and stepped inside, notoriously looking for potential dangers at first. Therefore he did not pay attention to the door frame. "Ouch!" He heard Samuel hiss and remembered that he himself was very tall and that his commander had probably just hit his head when he carried him.

"Oops, sorry." Said Varius. "All safe here."  
"Ousss...anding, sniper." Growled Samuel and rubbed the back of his head.

He looked around and discovered an old camp bed. The support legs were extremely thick and short. That had to be enough for now. He carried Wolfsbane to the camp bed and slowly lowered him onto it before he sat down at the edge of the bed. Must have been a bed for a krogan. The thing was stable and reasonably large. But that was of secondary importance to him. What was important was the man lying on the bed. Still inebriated, despite the shock moment, still aroused, which could be clearly seen from the bulge in his trousers. A slightly dazed, feverish look lay in the diamond-shimmering eyes of his commander. Lost in thought, he looked at him and slowly and carefully drove along his flank with a claw. He wanted to kiss him. And so much more. Varius emitted a soft, deep rumble. He slowly leaned towards Samuel, who repeatedly tried to sort his thoughts, but to little avail. Tonight this was probably hardly possible.

"Varius, we should sto-....."

Samuel started and Varius suspected that Wolfsbane wanted to end the hot night already begun. Despite his condition he tried to be controlled and objective and to behave dismissive. Therefore Varius leaned over to him and closed the lips of his commander with a gentle kiss.

"Sshsh, just enjoy it. Don't you have that every time? Even though you... were so reluctant." He spoke softly after releasing the kiss. "I know you like it. You want it….want..me. I... smell it every time."

Before Samuel could give an answer, Varius kissed him again and cuddled closer to him. This kiss was different from Jace's. Varius' whole behavior was different. Much more loving and tender? For a turian this was enormous, if he correctly assessed this warlike species. Even in intoxication he noticed this and it unsettled him. This tenderness, the expression in the glowing eyes of the other. Meanwhile, Jace entered the building and closed the door before locking it by pushing a heavy table in front of it. The scratching, screeching sound made the two of them stop the kiss and turn their gaze towards the entrance. Samuel immediately supported himself with his elbows from the cot. Jace looked at them.

"Saw some critters running around out there. We don't want any uninvited visitors tonight, do we?" He said.

He picked up the blankets and pillows he could scrape together and threw them straight on the other two. Then he grabbed the bottles of alcohol and strolled over to them. Samuel worked his way out from under the cloth and sat up completely. He was still confused by Varius' kiss. Jace opened both bottles and held one out to Varius. He took a sip before he pulled the face, or rather the mandibles.

"Woah, what is this ...gnat’s piss?" He moaned.

Jace did not answer him. He had taken a sip from the other bottle and knelt down to Samuel who blinked at him questioningly. A mischievous expression glowed in Jace's eyes. Then he grabbed the elf by the collar of his jacket and pressed his mouth onto Samuels, whom he had forced a crack open. The whole thing was painful, but somehow damned exciting, as Samuel realized when he accepted the wet kiss in surprise and felt the alcohol run into his mouth. Some of it, however, ran down his lip and across the corner of his mouth. Jace obviously did not intend to leave it at that. He pushed Samuel back onto the bed and ran a claw across his body, deeper and deeper, while holding up the kiss that Samuel breathlessly returned. He pressed one hand against the turian's chest armor, but had little success in pushing it away. And suddenly his body didn't want to do that anymore.

Jace impetuously used his claw to make his way under the pants of Wolfsbane and grabbed him again. This time he was much more forceful and let his claw, which was holding Samuel's member, slide up and down quickly so that he would not even think of wanting anything else. He knew that the alcohol mixed with the drug served him well. Samuel let go of any thought of resistance as the lust pushed through fog of intoxication and made him getting hard. He moaned lustfully into the kiss and felt Varius next to him beginning to caress his neck with his sharp teeth. The turian ran his tongue over the throat of the elf up to his pointed ear. Actually, Varius had not intended that Jace should now pounce on Samuel. But for now he let him go.

"Jace is no less a predator than I am but not as gentle." He whispered in the ear of the gasping, groaning man.

Leaning on the bed with one claw, he drove with the other over Samuel's body, which was getting warmer and warmer, and began to strip off his pants as best he could.

Samuel finally wrapped his arms around the neck of Jace, who took this with satisfaction and continued to massage him. With relish he wriggled under the turian and returned the kiss with a fierce heat. Jace was just a tempestuous bastard, he had no chance to think of anything else: he wanted this and he wanted more. But Jace's claw slowed down and finally stopped moving altogether. Infinitely slowly he released the kiss and grinned at Samuel, who returned his gaze dazed with lust, caught in the burning desire for redemption, panting, his lips slightly open and reddened.

"Hmm, such a beautiful sight." He purred. He himself was almost painfully excited and looked at Varius. "Please, let me take him first!" He gasped.  
Varius looked at him. "For being so...insolent? I should rather let you watch." He replied with a smile. "But if you even beg..."  
"Help yourself to me. Your flexibility should be enough for that." Said Jace, grinning excitedly. He was incredibly hot for this guy. Varius thought for a moment.  
"Damn it, stop... finally stop to dis...discuss...!" Samuel puffed. He was too horny to stand this for long.

Jace looked at him and so did Varius. "Whatever you wish, my sweet Commander." Varius smiled.

He leaned over again to kiss him tenderly until he remembered that they still had alcohol. Also for the commander. So he did what Jace had done before and gave Samuel a very alcoholic kiss. Samuel gurgled softly as he tried to swallow the stuff. Jace watched the spectacle and grinned thievishly.

"Shit...what....is...just in there....?!" He gasped.  
“Something to have some sweet hours.” Jace answered.  
Varius looked at him: “You put something in the alcohol, right?” He asked in turian, in a dialect.  
“Do you want to punish me for that now and end the game here, Vary?” Jace asked, also on turian.

Varius puffed softly No, of course he didn't want to. He wanted more.  
“No… not now.” He answered then.

Samuel felt so warm that he started to take his shirt off himself. Varius was only too happy to help him. Jace, meanwhile, placed himself between Samuel's legs and ran his claw over the man's heavily erect penis, making Samuel shiver. Jace licked over his sharp teeth and looked at Varius and Samuel for a moment before he pressed his hard member against the elf's entrance.

"Hnn, w-wait...!" Groaned Samuel.

To be taken completely unprepared was not pleasant. Jace only smiled, though. They were both so excited and Jace's "little helper" would make sure that Samuel would quickly feel more pleasure than pain again.

"You, ah.....will get used to you in a minute, sweetie...!" Groaned Jace as he entered Samuel.

Samuel tensed up and pulled his face. Varius, who had started to caress and stroke him again, interrupted his action and looked at Jace.

"Be careful." He admonished him.  
"Mmm, okay, okay." Gasped Jace.

He moved as slowly as he could. Samuel gasped heavily, his fingers clawing into the blanket on which he was now lying, while Varius nibbled and stroked him again. He began to tease his nipples with his tongue, grabbing the hard penis of Samuel again to gently stimulate him. Jace now paused for a few moments and watched the two of them, then he couldn't wait any longer. He put his claws on Samuel's hips as he bent over to him who moaned again as Jace went even deeper into him. It hurt, but at the same time he felt unrestrained excitement from Varius' claws and tongue, and at then Jace began to move his hips, pushing, quickly increasing the frequency of the thrust.

"Hnn, ah...humans are...so...tight.....that feels.... really good." He groaned.

The lust-filled sounds of the human and turian voice and the sounds of skin clapping on each other quickly filled the air and an atmosphere of heavy eroticism spread. Samuel craned his neck and closed his eyes while Jace took him. This sight, the stretched neck inevitably appealed to the predator inside Varius and ler him growl. How could one resist? The fangs barely penetrated the top layer of the human skin as he gently bit into his throat. A gesture that said that he was inferior to him, that he belonged to him. Varius exhaled with pleasure and stroked the heated, naked body. That all this really happened seemed unrealistic even to him, but if it was really just a sex dream, then it was incredibly realistic and prurient. Meanwhile he too felt a strong need for more, but he wanted to see the lust in Wolfsbane's beautiful face when the climax took him away. So he let him go again, but kept the hard up and down movement of his claw around Samuel's penis persistently while watching him until finally they had him ready.

Varius shuddered softly when he heard Samuel's passionate yet suppressed groaning, who was driven to a climax by the other two men. He watched as the slender body trembled and shivered in pure lust. Samuels fingers clawed firmly into the fabric of the blanket, while he was panting heavily and gritting his teeth, pressing his lips together and moaning again and again with closed eyes and the hottest expression of lust in his face. Varius growled and saw the light-colored seed pouring out of the glans in piles over his claw and Samuel's abdomen.

"Mmmh, yes. _Mabul_ , come…!" Groaned Jace.

He grabbed him tightly at the hips and pushed fast and hard into the climaxed body to make it seem even more intense and longer. Samuel couldn't hold himself back anymore and groaned hotly with passion, he experienced an indescribable orgasm that almost robbed him of his senses, thanks to the two turians, who obviously had much more experience in giving someone the highest pleasure until he sank exhausted on the cot and his body was wrapped in the afterglow. While he felt the throbbing in his loins and in his genital area, Varius bent down again and kissed him fervently. Samuel allowed the kiss to falter, even willingly replying to it, which caused Varius to a soft murmur of pleasure, before he left Samuel and looked at Jace, who was fishing for him.

"The...little one came too quickly. Or I'm...just too persistent." He smiled excitedly. "Vary, come here and fuck me before I burst!"  
"Ask me some questions." Gasped Varius.

He broke away from Samuel and grabbed Jace before turning him away from him, roughly pushing him down, holding him by the neck. Jace was only too happy to let him.

"Hnnn, it really turns me on... when you're so dominant, Vary." He whispered.

He moaned with pain and pleasure as Varius sank into him and wanted to tear his head into his neck, but Varius held him down and bit his neck when he bent down towards him. If he had done this to Samuel, he would probably have ripped his neck open. Turians wore natural armor due to the living conditions on their home world Palaven and their skin was very firm and tough. The bite would leave a wound, but it was definitely not meant to wound him, but to excite him. And probably to show who was in charge in the end. Samuel felt infinitely lethargic and exhausted. But, damn it, that had been good and his body seemed to want even more. He looked at the two of them. He could not help but watch Jace and Varius. He had to admit, that sight was very exciting and even though he was tired, he realized that he was getting hard again. Jace finally groaned as a violent climax flooded his body and mind while he was grabbed by Varius at the throat and pulled backwards who was pushing deep into him. A few long moments later he sank forward and let his head hang down, panting. Varius withdrew from him and growled. A predatory grin lay on his features.

"Hah... _mabul_...that was...good." Said Jace.

He turned his head and looked up at Varius. "What, you still haven't come to the launch?" He asked and grinned mischievously. "Shall I help you with my tongue?"  
"Mmm, no. I want something else. Or rather, someone." Said Varius.

He moved like a cat of prey on all fours towards Samuel, who was still lying on the cot. Elegantly he pushed himself between his legs while licking over his pointed fangs and pressed him down on the bed. Samuel let it happen, he did not want to resist any longer. He couldn’t. Varius seemed more than satisfied that his commander did not reject him, perhaps even relieved, although he probably would not have accepted a no now anyway. With one claw he supported himself next to Samuel's head, with the other he grabbed his own member and slowly pushed himself into Samuel's tight heat, who groaned softly. It was much easier to penetrate him and less uncomfortable for Samuel. Varius sank deeply and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Mmmh, you feel so good." He sighed.

Then he grabbed Samuel's penis and noticed that it was hard again. All the better, he thought and began to massage him again. The weariness disappeared rapidly as lust captivated them anew. Slowly Varius began to move and moaned softly. Fuck, he loved to bang his commander and saw that he wanted to as well. Samuel grabbed Varius' neck and embraced him, which he was only too happy to do, while he became more passionate and his movements faster, more demanding. It felt completely different than with Jace, And it felt so damn good.

"Aah....!" He moaned hoarsely.  
"Does it feel good?" Varius asked breathless into Samuel's ear.  
Samuel closed his eyes. "Y-yes...!"

The intoxication of alcohol and sex made him dizzy all over again. He soon felt that he was about to come again. Varius' claw, which held his member tightly gripped, leapt up and down incessantly as he took him, and the room was again filled with hot sounds.

"You never had sex with turians before, huh?" Asked Jace quietly, who watched the two of them.  
"He has...generally very...little experience with this. That makes him even more attractive." Varius said with a grin before he looked at Samuel.  
“Mmmhmm, I see…. then we’ll have to show him more of our...capabilities.” Jace said with quite a sexy voice while petting over Varius’ lower back and butt.

Surrendered Samuel lay under his rigger and let himself be abducted into other spheres. The white hair was open, some thin strands stuck to his face, which was gently reddened. His body shimmered slightly, wrapped in a veil of lust. He was so beautiful. Especially now. It was almost a dream that he could feel him again and make him moan. Deeply he bent back to him and closed his eyes. He did everything in his power to give him even more pleasure because in the meantime Varius knew a little bit what his commander liked.

"You're finally really enjoying it, _caris_..." He whispered.  
Samuel craned his neck and moaned again. It felt so incredibly good and he didn't want anything else at the moment. Breathlessly he gasped: "why...does that...feel so...so...hnn...so good..."

Varius ran his lips over the edge of the elf's ear and caressed it, before he simply had to say it. "Because... _adamare talut_ ...I love you. And...I want you to feel that."

 _That all can't be nothing but a wild sex dream_ , it went through Samuel's head. These words in particular must have been imaginary, but they were quickly forgotten by Varius' deep, hard thrusts, which carried him further and further into ecstatic heights and made him crave for the crowning of highest lust. Varius finally came to his climax and gave Samuel another one, until both sank exhausted on the bed, Varius recumbent on Samuel, still united with him, and dug his face into the crook of Samuel's neck. His muscles trembled, but he did not care. He felt satisfied and above all happy that his crush lay underneath him, he had felt him so intimately and driven to sweet madness like no one else, except Jace. He would not grant him this pleasure again after that night. Samuel belonged to him. His body exuded that beguiling scent that made Varius hold him tightly in his arms. His one and only. His partner! He had to...he would make him his own and if necessary, he would make that damned angaran lieutenant disappear! That was certain for him, at least that night, since no one was really able to think clearly anymore.


	24. Chapter 17: Desperate Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After that night with Varius and Jace Samuel is in a murderous mood and Varius can’t hold back his feelings any longer.

Some titillating exhausting hours later, in which the two turians gave themselves and the elf the greatest pleasure in many ways in that night, there was silence in the left old building who wasn’t so left anymore to this time.

They had spread round the pillows and blankets and built a kind of nest. Samuel had been the first to fall asleep, framed by Jace, who lay in front of him, and by Varius, who lay behind him. Jace lay on his back, with one arm under his head, his legs crossed. In the other claw he held a kind of cigarette, which he pulled on relaxed. Purple smoke rose into the air as he released it through his mouth. After a while he looked at the both. They looked really sweet together. Varius had pulled a blanket over himself and Samuel, more to keep him warm and hold him tight in his arms. Tired and lost in thought, Varius tenderly stroked Samuel's cheek with a claw, while he looked at him.

"Mmh, yeah, this is a really nice _iunkundita_ ,..." Jace sighed relaxed, before he asked a moment later: "you love him very much, huh?"  
Varius nodded dully.  
"But he does not love you."  
Again the other turian nodded.  
"I'm curious how things will develop between you."  
Varius sighed. "Me too.... He will attack me tomorrow and probably hate and ignore me for weeks again. Or worse."  
Jace smiled. "You just have to fuck him so often until he wants nothing else and falls in love with you, too."  
Varius looked at his comrade somewhat angry: "you really planted drugs on him?”  
"A harmless sex drug. But it helped, didn't it? We enjoyed it all. Even your darling. And, shit, he’s good." Jace grinned dirty.  
"That was a one-time thing, Jace. You're not gonna get him in your claws like that again.”  
Jace looked at him disappointed. "Oh, come on, you loved it in a threesome."  
“Yeah, but I love him more. And he will want to tear me to pieces anyway. Anyway, if he ever finds out, he'll kill me." Sighed Varius.  
"Oh, I'm sure he will fall in love with you."  
Varius smiled little encouraged. "I don’t think so, What do humans say? Hell freezes over before that."

He almost feared the dawning day after his commander was back to his senses. That would be damn unpleasant. So Varius wanted to fully enjoy those moments when he had Samuel lying naked with him and could touch and kiss him as if they were a couple.

Varius felt himself getting more and more tired. Jace lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. They both thought. With a lot of bad luck this was the last time he was allowed to touch Samuel like this, if he did not want to take what he desired by force. He closed his eyes briefly and went inside himself. Then he stood up, bent over to Samuel and bit him in the neck with his front fangs just before his shoulder, so that the blood ran. Samuel grimaced in his sleep and gave a soft, painful hissing sound.

"Argh..mh...what...what......?" He gasped completely dazed.  
"Sshsh, it's all right, my _campara_." Whispered Varius.

Jace watched them again while Varius licked the blood from around the wound. The bite wound would leave a weak scar.

“A _mor’amoreo_ , a mating-bite, huh?” Jace smirked.

Varius nodded slightly. Well, now he had probably gotten into a fight with Thantos as well, but he didn't care. Jace squeezed out the glow on the metal floor next to him and looked thoughtfully at Varius.

"Vary, be careful not to get too deep into trouble. I have a pretty dark foreboding about this." He said softly.  
"Jace, to be honest, I don't care. I....know that he doesn't love me. But I'm gonna fight anyway."  
Jace smiled matt. “That’s what turians do. We fight even if we know we can’t win.”

Varius nodded.

When Samuel woke up the next morning, he felt as if two cats of prey had put him through the wringer and his backside was throbbing uncomfortably. It didn't take him long to realize that the wild sex dream of a threesome with two turians he had was not just a dream, but reality. His body ached as if he had had a hard training in the wilderness with Thantos and for the love of the three gods: he would have preferred that ten times over. Slowly he turned on his back and ran his hands over his face. The air was cool and he froze as a breeze caressed his uncovered upper body. Blankets lay around his body, which was completely naked. For a few moments he lay still and felt a strange taste in his mouth, probably from all the alcohol he had drunk at the club yesterday. His lips hurt and felt rough. Sluggishly he sat up slowly and looked down at himself. His body had scratches and abrasions everywhere and ....sperm? Some of it smelled similar to what he tasted. _Shit, he didn't have....?!_ His face became hot when a sequence from last night twitched through his mind... _he, groaning on his knees, while Varius was behind him, holding him at his hips and Jace in front of him, holding him by the back of his head…_

“Fuck..!” He gasped silently.

That memory was exciting and scary at the same time. Quickly he looked around for his clothes. They were next to the cot on which he was lying. He reached for them and stood up with trembling legs. He didn't want to be here now, nor for long, nor to think about what had happened, nor to think much more about the details of what had happened. He had to get out of here. Back to the ship and take a shower, a very long shower, before he would get into new work, so he wouldn't have to think for a second about what had happened last night. Right now he was alone. Where the other two had stayed, Varius and Jace he didn't really care.

Samuel put on his leather jacket after he had managed to get fully dressed and put it back into place when a sharp pain in his neck made him stop. He hissed softly and gently ran his fingertips over the spot that was currently causing him the most pain. Apparently another wound. Those two damn predators. Samuel couldn't name what he was feeling at the moment. There was a strange emptiness in him. He did not want that to change. But that might be the case if he met one of them now. To prevent this, Samuel did not take the door of the building, but one of the windows. Climbing out and down to the floor was a piece of cake for an agile adept, even without ki powers and with a hangover.

Varius and Jace sat outside on the platform of the building facing the lake and chatted with each other about old times, when Varius got up to go quietly inside the building and look for Samuel. To his amazement, he noticed that there was no trace of the elf at all. 

"Jace, have you seen Wolfsbane?" He asked his friend, who denied.

Varius was looking around the room when Jace called out to him and drew attention to the slender silhouette of a figure on the horizon, moving towards Kadara Port. The two turians threw the pillows and blankets into the floor vehicle and Varius drove off with Jace on the passenger side, following the figure. 

Samuel had set out on foot on the way back to Kadara Port. He needed the walk to clear his head. However, he was not too surprised when he noticed a vehicle behind him that was coming towards him and then slowed down before it passed beside him. Jace let the window slide down on his side and looked at Samuel.

"Hey, can we give you a lift, Commander?" He asked.  
"No, thanks. I need some walk" Samuel replied monotonously.  
"Well, didn't you get enough of that last night?" Jace asked with a grin.

Samuel gave him a stony look. "Just drive." He replied succinctly.

Jace looked at Varius, who looked back at him.  
"Come on, Commander. The back seat is all yours. and I don't want those creatures in the front to rip you to shreds." Said Varius.

Varius left the engine running and waited for a reaction from his commander. He stood there and stared at the horizon. In fact, there were five very hungry looking challyrions in front of him, who had already set their eyes on the vehicle and were slowly moving in their direction. Samuel made a quiet, disgruntled sound and finally climbed into the back seat of the vehicle. The door closed and the three drove on. The challyrions were left behind. Samuel remained silent throughout the drive while Varius and Jace exchanged a few words every now and then. They left the car in the entrance area of the city and went through the lower level directly to the elevator to the city level. 

In the elevator, Jace turned to Samuel and looked at him. He tilted his head slightly and said, "so silent? I liked you much better last night when you were screaming with pleasure." 

The provocation had been pure intention and apparently did not miss its effect. Samuel's gaze twitched to Jace, the diamond-colored soul mirrors nailed him. A second later the adept had pinned the turian killer to the metal wall of the elevator. Jace was surprised to see how damn fast Wolfsbane could be when he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

"One more stupid line like that and you can pick up your mandibles off the floor, Atrix." Samuel rumbled in a low, cold voice.

Jace looked at him. He was quite impressed by the smaller man and murmured softly, but suppressed his grin. He wanted to keep his mandibles where they belonged. Soothingly he raised both claws.

"Easy, Wolfsbane." He purred softly.

Varius stepped behind Samuel and put a claw on his shoulder in extreme caution, as if the elf was a highly dangerous predator, which was extremely tense at the moment and threatened to bite at any time.

"Commander." He whispered to him.

Samuel stabbed Atrix with his gaze, but then let him go. Varius also took his claw from the elven shoulder. At that very moment the metal doors of the elevator opened. Samuel turned around and left the room with a taut step, without waiting for either of them. Jace and Varius looked after him.

"Damn, such a hot babe. I could bang him right away again..." Said Jace.  
Varius gave him a pat on the back of the head. "Idiot."  
The slapped turian grinned at his friend: "I certainly noticed that he could have killed me without any problem. This does not change the fact that I want to fuck him again." _And, shit, he would. Somehow he would._

They left the elevator and walked side by side towards the landing docks before Varius said goodbye to Jace and ran after Samuel. "Commander!” In the cargo area he caught up with him and grabbed him by the wrist to stop. Samuel actually stopped and looked at Varius. The stony look of the elf met the repentant begging of the turian.

"It has been my mistake, Talorian. I couldn't control myself and thought alcohol might wash away a bad day." Samuel suddenly said. 

His voice had returned to the cool, matter-of-fact tone that Varius could suffer as little as a disgusted or angry look from his commander. 

Samuel's voice became even colder as he continued: "and it was my mistake to trust you!”

Varius swallowed and went into a slightly crouched position. He looked around briefly. Then he grabbed Samuel by the wrist again and pulled him between two huge containers. Samuel stumbled after him. The morning sun of Kadara cast deep dark shadows and surrounded the two who were now standing between the huge containers. Varius let go of Samuel and suddenly fell to his knees while raising his hands. 

"I am sorry, Commander. I am..infinitely sorry. I had hoped that this night ... I wanted to take your mind off things and release the side of you that's been suppressing all the time. I wanted you to...relax in any way. I’m so sorry. I’m an idiot." Said Varius.

Samuel reacted confused. He was uncomfortable to see anyone kneeling before him. He himself was used to it, as he often knelt before Thantos, but this was something completely different. He never expected Varius to behave so submissively towards him. Why did he do this? What was actually wrong with his rigger?

"Stand up, Talorian." Samuel said softly. “Gods, what is just wrong with you?” He sighed.

Varius rose slowly. His mandibles worked nervously. Samuel did not know what to say. He was tired and just wanted to take a shower and get another snatch of sleep. And simply forget this night.

"We're not going anywhere together anymore. Especially not if Atrix is involved. This must end!" He said firmly and looked at Varius. "You've been behaving so unprofessionally over the past few weeks that I don't know whether it's still a good idea to keep you on the team. Perhaps it would be better to have you transferred. I will discuss it with the Ge-..."

Two claws suddenly grabbed him roughly and a moment later pressed him hard against the metal of the mighty container, so that there was a muffled impact sound. The pressure on his back was so violent that Samuel had the air pressed out of his lungs. Gurgling, he hung in Varius' claws, which had pinned him to the metal wall and stood so close to him that no sheet of paper could fit between them. Samuel wanted to defend himself and hurt Varius this time for his attack.

 **"I love you!"** The turian suddenly cried in desperation.

Samuel immediately froze to a pillar of salt and time and the world ceased to exist for a few seconds as these words cut the air. Not even the pain of the hard grip reached his mind. Varius continued to hold him. He was desperate. He had to tell him. What was there left to lose? If he already wanted to threw him off the team, then he could tell him what he felt. He pulled Samuel firmly into his arms and held him tight.

"I... love you... Samuel!" He whispered in a trembling voice, which sounded strange.

Endless minutes seemed to go by. Then Samuel raised his hands and slowly wanted to free himself from Varius. He let him go, but did not release him from the shadow in which they both found themselves. The turian looked at the elf. Samuel stared into the void. His face was unmoved. He was speechless and did not know what to do now. Varius looked at him. He still had his voice.

"I...know that you do not feel the same for me as I feel for you. Nevertheless, I will fight for you. I want... you to be mine." He said softly.

Samuel looked up at him. He felt strangely empty and numb. His body odor was coming up to his nose. It was disturbing and reminded him very succinctly that he urgently needed to take a shower. Absurdly enough, this very thought freed him a little from his rigidity.

"I... must think about that, Varius." He could whisper without a voice.

He set himself in motion and left the gap between the containers. Without paying attention to his surroundings, he made his way back to the Phoenix. Varius looked after him and shook his head with a sigh, rubbing his neck with a claw. Slowly he followed Samuel at a distance back to the Phoenix. He would give him time. But he did not have much hope that Samuel would come to him.


	25. Chapter 18: Emotions & Implants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel and Varius wrestle with their emotions - and Samuel with various kinds of pain.

Samuel dragged himself through the ship after an extensive shower, which he of course had taken alone, and thanked the three gods, to whom he prayed regularly, for not sending anyone at all to meet him, who wanted to make today even more adventurous or complicated. Most of all, he was grateful that he did not meet Samara or Dr. Ven'Tisa. Today was the last day on Kadara, the Phoenix would take off in the afternoon and return to orbit. And he had to be fit or at least look like it by then. He entered the captain's quarters and groped straight for his bed. The news, of which there were undoubtedly some, he would read later on his terminal. He wore a black cloth shirt open, as he had no muse to close it, and loose-fitting, also black cloth pants. He let himself fall on the bed and remained lying with his face in the pillow and shortly afterwards gave a resigned groan.

"Shit...shit...shit...shit...."

"Your vocabulary was also more pronounced at times."

All of a sudden Thantos' inhumanly rough, deep drell voice sounded right next to his ear. Samuel was so scared that he almost fell out of bed. He sat on the bed and stared at his master and soul brother.

"Fuck, are you fucking crazy?!" He hissed at Thantos.  
He looked at him with punishment. "Hey, you can talk to your sister like that." He growled.  
"She beats me for that." Samuel answered.  
"If that's all it is." Said Thantos and gave Samuel a pat on the back of the head with a movement the naked eye could not even see.  
"Ouch! I have enough pain." Murmured Samuel.  
"I can see that." Thantos replied and inspected his friend's upper body closely. "Rough night, huh?"

Samuel looked down at himself and blushed softly before he began to button his shirt. His body had been mauled accordingly by the two Turians. Though they probably were careful. Their physique and his were simply so different that injuries could not be avoided. Thantos, who had now sat down on the bed, looked at him and asked:

"Do I want to know?"  
Samuel sighed softly. "Thantos, just forbid me to ever touch alcohol again in the future. Or to go away with Varius again."  
"I thought so."  
"It's my own fault. It was my fault to go out with him and get drunk." Samuel sighed.

He shook his head and then lowered it so that the white open hair slid over one shoulder to his chest, freeing his neck. He felt Thantos hand on his neck as he used two fingers to touch the wound, which Samuel only remembered at that moment. He hissed softly as it hurt.

"Hmm, that will leave a scar." The drell reckoned. "I should have a serious word with Varius about not leaving any possession marks on what is mine."  
„Hmph, I slowly feel like a commodity.“ Samuel snorted sullenly.

He raised his head and looked at Thantos again. Their eyes met. Diamond met obsidian. Thantos read in the gaze of his dear brother.

"It was more than sex, wasn't it?" He asked quietly.  
"He told me he loved me." Samuel whispered.  
Thantos raised both eyebrows and blew out the air through a pierced mouth. "Pheew... shit."

Samuel just nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments until Thantos spoke again:  
"Turians, who have chosen a mate, are damn stubborn. He will not give up so easily. But I also heard that turian love is supposed to be the purest in the galaxy. Once a turian loves, then ..."

He was interrupted by Samuel: "I have neither time nor nerve for such nonsense, Thantos. This is slowly degenerating into a pure opera tragedy!"  
Thantos looked at him searchingly. "Mhm, and that you risked your life for a complete stranger without hesitation and thus disobeyed even your _shaday_ , of course has nothing to do with feelings.“

Of course Samuel immediately knew that Thantos was talking about Saraan. He stared at him and opened his mouth a little bit, but didn‘t reply and lowered his gaze until he finally let himself sink backwards onto the bed. If he had known at the time that he would have to deal with love dramas, he would not have accepted the post as commander in **this** ship of nutcases. Wait, stop: the post had nothing to do with it, and he hadn't accepted it, but had simply been thrown in at the deep end, just like his sister, and was appointed Commander:  
_here, the two of you, you now bear an immense responsibility, make sure that everything goes to our satisfaction. If not, you are to blame._  
And there was one thing he always had to realize: his crew was special. Very special. Some would say the Phoenix was a damn flying madhouse with hyperspace propulsion.

The current Phoenix crew had only existed for a few months now. However, some of the members had known each other and operated together long before that time, as it was the case with himself, Thantos and Varius, who belonged to the special tactics teams APEX. Before the crew was built and the frigate was officially sent into the orbit there were rumours within certain fractions on the Nexus such as the Security and APEX teams that the constellation on the Phoenix would lead to ship-internal „adventures“. 

Samuel had expected quite a bit after he had assembled his crew and witnessed the first arguments. Yes, he had even reckoned that there would be some odd flings and love dramas, at the latest when he brought Jake Goodwin into the team and he started to adore Samara. But he had always assumed that this would only happen within his crew and not involve him - and if, that he could handle it without any problems, because emotions had not played a role for him for a long time. That he would be so wrong with this, however, he would not have believed then and certainly not at all that a turian fell unhappily in love with him!

"Why me?" He sighed and stared at the ceiling. 

Thantos looked at him. Then he did something that would have surprised anyone who didn't know how closely the two were connected. He climbed on the bed with Samuel and just lay down next to him to stare at the ceiling as well.

"You didn't think that you were on the outside, did you? Especially you." The drell replied.

Samuel did something that was no less astonishing, if one knew nothing about the two of them: he turned a little and placed the back of his head on Thantos' chest, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Perhaps Varius will forget the whole thing again."

"I'm afraid he won't. He is turian. Something must have made him firmly believe that you'll be, well, his mate." Said Thantos. "But you better ask Dr. Ven'Tisa. She knows her way around better. I only know this much: turians are used to fight and conquer. So you can expect something."

Samuel shook his head gently. "Arashu, please don't bring tragedy upon us." He whispered with a sigh. Thantos placed his hand gently on the white-haired man's head at that moment. Samuel was not sure whether he should really go to the asari to discuss this topic. But who, if not her, knew best? Caliria perhaps? She would probably tell it to Varius without hesitation. 

"Dr. Ven'Tisa wants to see me about the chip anyway." He mumbled and then yawned at the end of the conversation. "I'm sorry. I'm dead tired."  
"Then sleep." Thantos spoke softly. "Shall I stay?"

Samuel nodded slowly. "And you could pet me." The elf mumbled sleepily and turned completely to his soul brother and master so that he now lay in the crook of his arm.  
Thantos looked at him and then asked smiling, "Anything else? Shall I sing you to sleep, too?"  
"Oh, please no, you sound atrocious with your raspy voice - ouch...!"  
Thantos pinched his neck. "Don't be so cheeky."  
"But it's true - ouch!... Urgh..." 

Samuel winced and pulled a face, because this time he pinched him directly into the bite that Varius had left. He growled softly, but remained silent as Thantos began to stroke gently over his head until Samuel dozed off slowly, until early afternoon.

The day was no longer worth mentioning. It was mostly quiet, routines were carried out, protocols were kept, short conferences were held, everyone functioned as they should. The two pilots, Deen and Cheen Watts, took the Phoenix from Kadara, out into the Govorkam system and into orbit without difficulty. There was always the difficulty of not knowing exactly when a day was over. In case of doubt, the time of the clock on the planet where one was last located was read. Or one went to bed at some point when one could no longer stand. 

Varius was also very tired, yet he could not fall asleep in the evening. How could he? He felt more lonely in his bed in the Tech Lab than ever before. It was unbearable. Humans cried when they were desperate or when longing and pain became too great. Turians couldn't cry because of lack of tear glands. But that had nothing to do with the fact that they could not still have the feeling of tearing up inside. Feelings were crap. Maybe Samuel was right. They were crap, especially when they were not reciprocated. 

"I can only recommend you have the implant put in place, Commander. It is just too risky to let you continue to run around without this bioware, especially if you go on more dangerous missions now". So said Dr. Ven'Tisa the other day.

Samuel was sitting on one of the hospital beds in Med Bay and the asari medical officer was sitting on a chair in front of him. On her lap was a datapad. She had asked him to come to her for the weekly checkup and now told him the results of a test she had done on him to monitor the ki's activities. The results were phenomenal and disturbing.

"I'm sure I'll be fine without this thing, doctor. As an adept, as an awakened person, the use of bioware is questionable." Said Samuel.

Cyberware was even worse. An immune rejection would be the least of the evils. Dr. Ven'Tisa looked at him and then lowered her gaze to the datapad. She called up a scale and showed it to Samuel. 

"Have you made use of your ki powers lately, Commander?" She asked.  
Samuel denied. Of course not. She went on:  
"The rashes you see on the scale are ki activities. If you have not consciously called your powers, I must assume that the ki has activated itself."  
Samuel looked at her questioningly. "How is that possible? To use my powers, I must consciously call them."  
"Yes, usually an adept fights like this, I know. I can only tell you what I've observed."

Samuel looked at the rash on the scale. The date coincided with the day he had had that fight with Teekoy, Tiran and Tiberius in Kralla's Song with the Outlaws. He could not remember using even a weak ability, 

"What did you do that day?" The asari wanted to know.  
Samuel hesitated with his answer. "There was... a fight in a bar in Kadara Port." He said meekly.  
The asari narrowed her eyes, whereupon Samuel quickly added: "I didn‘t start!"

She saved any further comment for the time being. "The fact is, the ki activated itself. How and why, I cannot tell you. I am afraid I am also the wrong person for this area. Perhaps Mr. Savallian knows more about it. But I can tell you this: if this phenomenon reoccurs, it may kill you." 

She looked at the commander for a moment and let her words take effect before continuing: "You are, to my knowledge, the only adept whose powers have taken such massive forms, but at the same time can lead him to certain death. And if your powers now suddenly start to become independent, the risk of dying is even higher. Unfortunately I can no longer keep you from going back to work as an APEX agent..."

"I have long since had my status changed back to active." Samuel said.  
"That's what I mean. I hope you'll initially only accept missions with low health risk. Regardless of this, it may happen that one of your more powerful forces becomes independent and you suddenly drop dead in the middle of a battle. Do you want to take that chance?" 

„Of course not.“ Samuel sighed. 

He bent forward, put his elbows on his thighs and ran his hands through his face. From the outside, it looked as if Dr. Ven'Tisa had just given him some devastating news. That might be the reason why Samara, who was passing the window to Med Bay at that very moment, entered and came towards them. Samuel raised his head a little and let his hands sink. He and Dr. Ven'Tisa looked at the red-haired young woman.

"By the three gods, Samuel, what happened?" She asked in consternation.  
"Nothing?" Samuel replied neutrally.  
"I'm trying to teach our Commander to wear the implant Mr. Talorian and I developed so he won't..." she delayed her words for a few milliseconds because Samuel looked at the asari - don't say: _he won't die! _"… be exposed to any great risks during the fight."__

__Samara looked from her to Samuel: "sounds reasonable to me. But with reason you often can't be stopped."_ _

__Now Samuel looked at her with a hard, stern look. It was one thing if they became personal among themselves, but another if it happened in the presence of crew members. He was still the one with the highest authority on board here. Samara immediately recognized her mistake and apologized._ _

__"I am sorry, Commander. If I were you, I'd at least give it a try. Then we'll see if you can handle the implant." She said.  
"I agree." Dr. Ven'Tisa said and went back to Samuel. "A week? You'll wear the implant for a week. I will monitor everything closely. If there are any serious side effects, we'll remove it immediately."_ _

__Slight side effects would be initial dizziness and headaches, which should disappear after one to three days, the asari explained to the commander and the ambassador. Samuel asked for time to think it over and finally agreed the next day with a queasy feeling. It was urgent to make a decision, because time in the galaxy did not stand still._ _

__The Nexus security was overwhelming the APEX members with missions. The reason was a disturbing strengthening of the New Order and its increased attacks in numerous areas on Elaaden, Eos, Kadara, Havarl and other habitable planets as well as directly in orbit. The HQ had specifically assigned Samuel and his team several missions "to be completed as quickly, quietly and cleanly as possible" which meant killing off smaller, less organized groups of criminals or a specific key target with the expertise of assassins._ _

__One of the missions took place within the deep forests of Havarl: a scouting team had located a drug lab that had to be taken care of. Usually, Thantos, he and Varius were the perfect team for just such missions: the two adepts sneaked into the interior of the buildings silently and quickly, often with almost acrobatic dexterity, and took out any enemies they found. Varius lay in wait outside, kept an eye on the surroundings with his sniper and sent everyone who wanted to leave or enter the building to their maker. Absolutely no one escaped the deadly threesome if everyone did what he was supposed to do. And that was exactly where Samuel had his doubts in the meantime._ _

__He had not assigned Varius to these missions and unofficially excluded it from any further missions in which they operated together. It was an unfortunately expected shock for Varius when he went through the team line-up on the APEX mission board that day and did not see himself in the Shadow Team. He however couldn‘t talk about that with his commander as Samuel had avoided the turian's vicinity and accordingly they had not spoken a word to each other since that day in Kadara Port. Once they had met, Samuel had kept the meetings as short as possible. The meeting in Med Bay would be the same._ _

__Dr. Ven'Tisa had requested Varius to bring the implant. Samuel was still sitting on the hospital bed, his legs dangling when Varius came to the infirmary. They glanced at each other briefly before Dr. Ven'Tisa turned to Varius._ _

__"Mr. Talorian, I will implant the chip today to Commander Wolfsbane. You and I will then closely monitor his body reactions and the effect and reaction of the implant over the coming week. May I see the implant?"_ _

__Varius handed the asari a small translucent box in which the implant floated in the middle. She took it and examined it once before turning around and walking to a table on which the utensils for implantation were placed. A tool that worked like a syringe and pushed the implant under the skin, various swabs and disinfectants, as well as sterile gloves. Samuel watched as Dr. Ven'Tisa carefully opened the box and, after putting on the gloves and a mouthguard, removed it with sterile forceps. She proceeded with extreme care. Samuel saw the syringe and slightly distorted his face. At the thought that the needle of this thing would prick him right away, he even forgot that Varius was still present and was watching him stealthily._ _

__"I suggest that I place the implant in your neck, Commander, because of the better connection to your brain, in case the extra forces also have a neurological cause". Dr. Ven'Tisa said, looking at Samuel. He in turn gave her a doubtful look. "It will hurt a little bit, I can anesthetize the area locally beforehand if you like."  
"Proceed as you think, doctor." Samuel replied. _ _

__He was generally uncomfortable with the idea of wearing this thing, but he had already expressed that last time. The whole thing was so unpleasant that he even forgot what Dr. Ven'Tisa discovered when she stood next to Samuel at the sickbed and he opened the collar of the shirt on her instructions - she was sterile at the moment. He was wearing a gray-blue shirt with a high-necked collar and tight-fitting dark pants. He had never really paid much attention to it before, but at the moment he was quite happy that most of the tops worn under the uniform jacket had high stand-up collars. That way he could cover up the bite that Varius' fangs had left behind. At least most of it. A small area was still visible, but when he dropped the long white hair over it, nobody saw the injury. But that did not matter now._ _

__Dr. Ven'Tisa paused for a few seconds and from the movements of her facial tattoo above the eyes one could see that she was doing what humans often do when they wonder: raising eyebrows. However, Asari did not have eyebrows per se. She had discovered the bite wound and gave Varius a blaming look. He knocked his eyes down in shame and drove a claw through his neck. She turned her head away again and suppressed a smile. _So the two had already come much closer to each other than expected_ , she thought to herself. She would interview Talorian right away. _ _

__But first she took the tool for implantation and after a short disinfection of the skin in the neck of Samuel she put it on. Of course, she did not choose the area with the bite wound for this._ _

__"I'll give you some ointment for the bite right away." She said casually. "Obviously, someone wants to make their ownership clear." She added.  
"What?!" Said Samuel confused._ _

__That's what Dr. Ven'Tisa had been waiting for. She took advantage of the commander's confusion and quickly pressed the implant under his skin. Samuel gave a choked, painful cry of surprise._ _

__"It's over." Said the asari and examined her work. "I'll put a bandage on it."_ _

__Before that, she took an ointment and dabbed it on the bite wound, which was still more smarting than Samuel would admit. "That should do it. Please wait a few minutes until you leave, Commander. I'll be right back."_ _

__Dr. Ven'Tisa temporarily left the room with the tools on a tablet and Varius and Samuel were alone. Samuel lowered his gaze to the floor and remained silent like the days before until the throbbing pain in his neck, which now radiated on both sides, made him speak:_ _

__"Was that bite necessary, Varius? What in the three gods were you thinking?" He asked quietly, but there was annoyance in his voice._ _

__Varius looked at him. He searched in vain for an answer that would not break up a quarrel. Samuel apparently had a similar thought: no answer that Varius would give would probably cause a de-escalation. So he kept on talking:_ _

__"Forget it, don‘t waste your breath, I don't want to know." Samuel slightly pulled a face._ _

__The injection site hurt and he had to control himself not to run his hand over it. But in the end he did, so that Varius jumped on his feet and reached for rhe elf‘s hand._ _

__"Do not touch!" He said and Samuel raised his head and stared at him._ _

__Varius kept holding his hand and returned his gaze. He swallowed. They stared at each other. Seconds passed. As sounds emanated from the next room of the Med Bay, Samuel hurriedly pulled his hand out of Varius' grip and lowered his gaze in annoyance and embarrassment. His cheeks were slightly reddened. Dr. Ven'Tisa returned and probably noticed immediately that something was in the air. She looked from one to the other and then said - Samuel had hoped that she would simply not comment, but was disappointed:_ _

___"Should I leave you two alone again?"  
"No." Samuel said immediately and slipped off the sickbed. He put his shirt back on and put the collar up before closing it. "I guess we're done here, doctor?"  
The asari confirmed. Samuel thanked her. "I will contact you if there are any problems. Dr Ven'Tisa, Talorian." He said goodbye and swiftly left the Med Bay . _

__The other two looked after him. Varius suppressed a sigh and Dr. Ven'Tisa looked at him as she pulled out her datapad on which she had stored her data for her _"Metahuman-Turian-Project"_. "So tell me exactly what is going on between you two - I'm asking out of purely scientific interest, of course. I have not yet had the opportunity to study a prospective relationship between a male human of the meta species elf and a male turian.“_ _


	26. Interlude 8: Addictions and Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varius tries to talk to Commander Wolfsbane about his expulsion from the Shadow Team but is again overwhelmed by his feelings and ends up taking a potentially momentous decision.

Dr. Ven'Tisa had seriously insisted on as detailed a description as possible of the sexual intercourse between him and Samuel. Of course he did not give it to her. Not only because it was none of her business, but because he didn't want Wolfsbane to hold any more grudges against him than he already did. Damn, why did he do it anyway? Because he had confessed to him that he loved him? Varius felt like a criminal. Yes, he had been that once, but that was long gone. 

The week when the implant was tested was long gone and Dr. Ven'Tisa's recommendation was to continue wearing it. The mission on which the Shadow Team was to be deployed was imminent. He still had to talk to his commander. He knew this would not be a pleasant conversation, but he had to try. Samuel was in the Captain's Quarters and was struggling with headaches when Varius came to see him the evening before the roundup on Havarl. 

"Are you all right?" asked the turian after he had seen Samuel grimace his face and massage his temple.  
"Yes, just a headache. Dr. Ven'Tisa had announced it." Samuel replied. "What can I do for you?" He asked in the distant tone of a superior.  
"It's about assigning teams for the upcoming missions. You have excluded me from all Shadow Team missions."  
"That is correct." Samuel, who had previously been standing at his terminal, now turned away from it and turned towards Varius, while he crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
"And why, may I ask, did you kick me off the team?" Varius slowly entered the room.  
"Your present condition gives me reason to do so."  
"My present condition? Because a mission went wrong? With all due respect it wasn‘t only me who failed, Commander."

Samuel's face was neutral. Nondescript. Yet he was beautiful. No matter what he did or didn't do. Varius tried to push the thoughts aside.

"I am aware of that. I am not talking about this mission either. Or not only. I don't want to take any risks, especially not when there are missions with higher and very high potential for danger again." Samuel said.  
"My skills are the same." Said Varius. He lowered his eyes briefly as he continued: "My ... concentration is only suffering a little at the moment.  
Samuel nodded affirmatively.  
"And that can be fatal. I must be able to rely on the sniper in my back to give me the necessary fire protection. And who shoots enemies instead of me.“ Samuel explained. "You're in no condition to do that right now, Talorian."

Talorian. He only called him that when he was angry with him. Or tired of him. The turian's mandibles worked nervously. "I see. But to exclude me from all missions because of that, I consider it excessive." He said.

In the past, he would not have minded if someone had told him that he was not suitable. After all, he had heard that almost all the time in his past. Had been rejected and excluded again and again. First by his family, then by various squads and troops. He had gotten used to it. At least he thought he had gotten used to it. But now to hear from Samuel that he was not suitable was more painful than he had thought. Samuel watched the turian who lowered his head. He sighed softly.

"Varius, at the moment you are severely impaired in your abilities. And I cannot estimate when you will be able to act properly again." Samuel's voice softened a little. "You're... still the best sniper I've met."  
Varius came closer to him and raised his head again. "Hm, I am generally the best sniper." He said and smiled thinly.  
"Well, at least you haven't lost any of your arrogance." Samuel replied and raised one eyebrow under a hint of a thin smile.

Varius looked at the elf, in the same way a predator probably looked at his chosen prey as he almost stood right before him. Samuel was uncomfortable with this look, but he held his gaze and did not move. Slowly the turian stepped one step closer to Samuel, so that the smaller human had to look up to him. Samuel slowly released his arms from the entanglement. The glowing eyes penetrated the almost white soul mirrors of the other man.

"You know exactly...why I am so unfocused." He said softly. In the flanging voice there was an undertone that Samuel couldn't quite place. He only felt that it made him uneasy.

He felt uncomfortable with having Varius standing so close in front of him. "I cannot help you there, Talorian." He said, perhaps a little softer than he had wanted and walked past him.

Varius looked over his shoulder before he slowly turned and watched him, realizing that Wolfsbane wanted distance from him. Fled from him. That agitated the predator within him. He walked a few silent steps behind him, while Samuel went back to the terminal continuing to check countless messages.

"I will think about getting you back on the team, in case you feel up to it again. If...you have no other concerns now..."

As he spoke, he tried to relax notoriously tense muscles by slowly moving his shoulders and placing one hand on his neck to massage him. He winced gently as he felt two claws resting on his shoulders, starting well practiced to massage him a little. Varius knew immediately where to put his claws, as Samuel noted to his surprise. 

"Hmm, don‘t..." He murmured.  
"If I'm not allowed to accompany you on the missions, then at least I can provide some relaxation.“ Varius whispered.

He continued kneading his shoulders up to his neck with gentle pressure. He left out the wounded parts under the bandage. It was really pleasant and helpful. Samuel felt tempted to close his eyes and lower his head, but he warned himself not to sink into it. So he released himself from the almost caressing claws that were massaging him and turned to Varius who was now standing so close in front of him that Samuel was not sure if it had been a good idea to do what he had just done. He now felt nervousness coming up inside himself. Varius caught Samuel's gaze and held him.

"I am busy, Varius." Samuel said in a slightly uncertain voice. This did not slip the turian‘s attention. Samuel knew: these species were truly predators and perceived weakness instantly.

Varius crossed another border when he suddenly grabbed the elf by the shoulders and maneuvered him against the wall next to the terminal. Samuel didn't know what his body was doing when he just let himself be directed backwards. It was as if the eyes of that predator had hypnotized him. Only when he felt the wall in his back he realized what was happening. But Varius did not let him escape now. He pressed him against the wall and held his wrists with both claws next to his head. 

"Hey...hands off...!" A hoarse protest.

Samuel felt a strange tension and heat coming up inside him as he tried free fromVarius, but he wouldn't let him. He lowered his head and drove with his nose along the neck of the elf, absorbing his smell, shivering and growling softly.

"Why are you lying to me, Samuel? I sense that you want me." He whispered in the pointed ear.  
Samuel did not understand. "What...are you talking about? Let me go!" He commanded.

But Varius held him down, took his wrists with one claw and pinned them over Samuel's head.

"Your body clearly shows that you want exactly the same thing as I do." said Varius.  
"That's bullshit!" Samuel hissed.

"No! Turians sense this smell on potential partners. I sense it on you. Your body cannot lie, Samuel. If it wasn't for that damn angara, perhaps you wouldn't hesitate..." Varius growled quietly while possessively grabbing Samuels chin with the free claw. The grip around Samuel's wrists and chin became so tight that it hurt and Samuel's face slightly distorted.

"Damn it, this...is in your head!" He gasped.

Varius closed his eyes and took another deep breath. For him there was no doubt. "No. Why... do you fight me so bad?" He sounded hurt, if one could say so. "Am I such a monster?"  
"N-no, you're not, but...." Samuel didn't know what to do. Why did private conversations between them get so intense lately?  
"You seem to believe it. Then... let me show you that I'm not. And what you mean to me, my dear." Whispered Varius.

The grip became looser, the claw that had grabbed him by the chin now stroked with such tenderness over Samuel's neck to his cheek that he got goose bumps. Samuel was completely confused. About himself and his feelings. When Varius slowly bent over to him, panic grew in him.

"Varius...don't, please...I don't feel the same way-....!" 

He fell silent as Varius' mouth closed his with a kiss. Samuel gave a reluctant, tormented moan. He did not want this! And...he somehow wanted it. Varius seemed to feel this immediately, as he snuggled up against him and gently drove his claw over Samuel's flank. This kiss was so infinitely tender and unsettled Samuel even more. Worse still, his body reacted to the demanding and yet so loving approach of his rigger. Fuck, he was certainly not in love with Varius, but his touches, his kisses turned him on so much. Fuck! He became hot and a desire that he had come to know well began to burn within him while Varius stroked him incessantly. Samuel finally turned his head to the side and gasped heavily. He felt the tightness in his trousers.

"Shit...what..... is wrong with me...?!" He whimpered softly while Varius caressed his neck.  
"Like I said before." He whispered.  
"No!" Growled Samuel. 

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath in an attempt to fight down feelings and especially desire.

"Let me go, Talorian...or I'll throw you off this ship!" He threatened him.

Varius paused in his action and looked at Samuel. Then he lowered his head and looked down at him. Samuel avoided his gaze in shame as Varius noticed the bulge in his trousers. He felt how tense Samuel was. How little it only took to get him to the point where he wanted him to be - where he wanted to be himself!

"You would rather...Saraan did this...wouldn't you?" Varius whispered and glided with his claw over the bulge in the elf's trousers.  
"Stop talking about him." Said Samuel softly as Varius put another claw under his chin and forced him to look at him.

"But it is so. Do you think of him when I seduce you? When I... do this?" He ran his tongue over Samuel's lips before he bent over to his ear and bit tenderly into it.  
Samuel suppressed a gasp, but he shuddered and closed his eyes again. 

"Or this?" The turian purred tantalizingly as his claw slid gently under Samuel's shirt and stroked his belly, slowly moving deeper. Samuel became even hotter. Gods, why couldn't he just push Varius away with a few well-aimed grips and blows, why was his body so weak? And how could he become so vulnerable? Samuel bit his lower lip when he lowered his head. Varius watched him, the reactions of his so desired commander were actually answer enough for him, but he wanted to hear if he was right. He feared that he was. Thus..he knew what to do.

"Am I right, my sweetheart?" He asked quietly.  
Samuel took a deep breath and looked at Varius again: "Shit., don‘t call me that! Yes, maybe I am thinking of Saraan, maybe I want him to do this instead of you, but what I think and especially what I feel is none of your business!“ He said defiantly. 

Was it true what he said? Damn he couldn‘t say.At the moment it was pure anger and defiance that spoke out of him.

Varius was silent for a moment and looked deep into his eyes. "Yes, it is." 

In fact, he let go of him slowly, put his claws on Samuel's shoulders once more and stole a kiss from his lips. "For the future... this is very important to me." Said Varius before he left Samuel. "Good luck with the mission, Commander" He said goodbye and left the quarters.

Samuel remained leaning against the wall and watched Varius go wordlessly. His legs trembled and his knees were so soft that he sank to the floor. Moaning, he leaned the back of his head against the wall. "Gods, please help me get through this drama." He sighed.

Meanwhile for Varius it was clear: he would challenge this angara and do everything to kill him. ....


	27. Chapter 19: Politics and Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samara Wolfsbane meets the fearsome party leader of the _Roa Valla Sjem_ and Samuels sees himself confronted with Kardash Vikos. But the return to Aya does not only bring negative things.

The world of Havarl was wild and densely forested, a gigantic garden, lushly planted with greenery and interspersed with water sources. Anyone who came from the earth or had ever seen certain parts of this planet felt immediately reminded of a dense primeval jungle. The trees grew very high and stood so close together that the light of the bright star that shone during the day hardly touched the ground. In some places it was always night. Leaves, ferns and other plants grew in such an impressive size that a krogan could easily use a leaf from Havarl as an umbrella if he wanted to. And that often did not seem wrong. The humidity on this planet was very high. Similar to South America, the flora of this planet formed the basis for a continuous water cycle, which made it rain almost constantly. The scent of Havarl was heavy, sweetish, partly earthy and mossy. In other places it smelled more like stone and stagnant water. Rarely the smell of carrion rose into the nose. The animal world of the planet was hostile and dangerous. Within the last 15 years, there had been changes due to the reawakening of the vault, but it was still deadly to roamin this jungle unarmed. 

Havarl had also become the home world of some turians and unfortunately was still the main base of the former Roekaar, who now called themselves Roeshaar. Also criminal minds had discovered a new use in the many different, partly very poisonous, plants of the planet. The poison could be extracted, combined, dried, liquefied or even converted into gas and processed and sold in a new form. The angara called what was produced on Havarl _Hashfoon_ , meaning amongst others: “which stuns the mind and body“. Drugs in all imaginable forms and for ever new purposes and effects were produced here. And the Nexus wanted to put an end to this. Since Havarl was presumably the cradle of this evil, the drug nests there were to be fumigated. Since care was taken not to scare up the Roeshaar, the non-hostile angara or the wildlife too much, the teams that took on the missions were supposed to be as quiet and discreet as possible.

Samuel, Thantos, Teekoy Var, who went along instead of Varius, and Keni'Toras vas Xehala, on behalf of the Nexus, had gone out into the deep forests of Havarl that afternoon to dig the nest. Keni had almost begged the commander to come along. Her reason was: as a former pirate and smuggler she knew how the criminals proceeded, where they hid themselves and especially their goods when there was trouble. In addition, she was able to provide help with her drones. Samuel had been skeptical and had instructed the quarian to stay under cover and only move when he said so. She had scrupulously adhered to it. Her spy drone had been an extreme help in scouting the shelter. It had quickly been able to gather valuable information that the two adepts could use to take more targeted action. She and Teekoy remained outside, well hidden, pistol and sniper at the ready, while the two adepts infiltrated the building like deadly shadows and took out one criminal after another without setting off the alarm. They were terrifyingly effective. Silent, fast, merciless, precise. Every movement was fluent and lightning fast, every cut, every move practiced and controlled. Opponents disappeared in the shadows, made a choking sound and stopped moving. By the time the drug manufacturers finally realized what was going on, Samuel and Thantos had already reached the heart of the place. Those who thought that fleeing for their salvation would be a good idea were targeted by Teekoy or caught in Keni's crossfire. When the action was over, Commander Wolfsbane was able to send a message to the Nexus that the mission had been very successfully completed. 

A debriefing took place in the Phoenix's conference room late in the evening, in which Samuel praised the good cooperation and reminded Teekoy once again why this APEX team was called the "Shadow Team".

"Oh, Commander, it was effective, wasn't it, kchch?" Said the volus.  
"It was quite effective to load Keni's drone with grenades and then drop them, but it wasn't very subtle. Samuel replied.  
"But effective! Kchch."  
"Your sniper skills were remarkable, Teekoy. And the drones of Keni were very helpful. If you practice a little more subtlety, I will consider this constellation more often for appropriate missions." Samuel said.

He dismissed Teekoy and Keni and turned to Thantos, who came up to him and looked at him. "You were very good today, _paratan_. Despite your impairment. I hardly noticed any difference." He spoke appreciatively.  
Samuel once bowed slowly and replied, "Thank you, _shaday_ , I really appreciate your words. Even if I'd rather not have this thing in my neck."  
"Does it make you feel different?"  
Samuel wondered. "Weaker, slower, less agile. Less effective. Less worthy." He muttered.

Thantos patted him gently on the shoulder. Samuel really felt more vulnerable, even though Thantos assured him otherwise. They were about to leave the conference room together when Deen Watts informed the commander that the Paladin had made contact. So Samuel stayed while Thantos left the room and awaited the incoming transmission. Jace Atrix's hologram appeared at the conference table and looked at him. He tilted his head slightly and seemed to have trouble not to stare at him or even start drooling. Samuel was still wearing the assassin outfit, which was designed to avoid getting stuck anywhere, and reinforcements within the clothing were designed to avoid protruding or bulging as was the case with shoulder armor, for example. Accordingly, the outfit was _very_ tight-fitting and thus accentuating. He was also completely wrapped in black, up to the neck. In stark contrast to this was his snow-white hair, which he had tied back to a braid. He looked really attractive. The fact of the matter was that he could move best in this clothing and above all fight and kill silently.

"Commander Wolfsbane, good to see you." Jace greeted.  
"Captain Atrix. What can I do for you?"  
"I wish to inform you that you can count on the Paladin's support in the fight against the New Order in the future. Our expertise and firepower are at your disposal." Said the turian.

That was indeed good news! But Samuel was careful not to get too enthusiastic. He succeeded quite easily.

"That...I am indeed pleased to hear. It will be an honor to work with you and your team, Captain.“ He replied in a polite tone.  
"I'm glad you're willing to cooperate. I look forward to seeing you in combat.“ Said Jace, before murmuring in a slightly playful seductive tone: "and to work with you...personally."

That Jace had made this offer with ulterior motives was clear to Samuel. He ignored this fact. With his hands crossed on his back he stood there straight and looked at the hologram of the turian leader of the Paladin. 

"It is likely that opportunities for battle will present themselves soon." He said calmly.  
"For certain. Give Talorian my regards." Jace answered.  
"I'll do that."

The hologram of Jace faded out and Samuel thought he saw another mischievous wink. Gods, Jace was worse than Varius. He should make sure that he was never sent on a mission with the two turians nor with Jace alone. Samuel shook his head gently and left the conference room - and almost collided with Varius, who was staring at a datapad and not at the corridor in front of him. Samuel just managed to get out of the way and stumbled along the wall.

"Why in the name of the three gods do I always run into you?" He snorted softly.  
Varius looked at him and let the datapad sink: "because you _are into me_?" He said cheekily, before he probably noticed Samuel's outfit, judging by the way he stared.

"Wow, _s'kak_..." He even murmured. _Shit, his commander looked so sexy in this outfit that he would love to peel him out of that right now and..._

"Jace sends you regards. The Paladin joins us in our struggle against the New Order." Samuel really struggled not to react completely unnerved at that moment. He remained calm and looked at Varius without any amusement. He did not even respond to this remark.

"Ah, excellent. Then he accepted my recommendation. He and his crew are really good fighters, trust me, Commander." Varius replied in a calm manner.

Samuel nodded softly. He considered his answer well and left it at the words: "Alright. Carry on."

They were alone in this corridor and this fact alone caused a slight tension in him, perhaps even between them, which he did not want to understand or deepen. So he set himself in motion and disappeared inside the ship while Varius looked after him. He couldn't help but stare at the tasty ass before he too turned around and walked on. 

Samuel was just entering the Captain's Quarters when new messages were reported on his terminal. As he called them off, he activated the voice output of the Alliance News Network to keep himself informed of galaxy-wide news. He usually relied on Samara to keep him up to date, which she did when it was important to Samuel. In the past, however, she had been busy with diplomatic matters and had informed the commander less frequently. But it was exactly for such cases that the galaxy-wide network could be accessed. There wasn't much news that could interest his sister in particular and thus him. But bad news was usually enough in these circles. And it was announced:

_"Urgent news: Ravos Jel Kaan, party leader of the Roa Valla Sjem, has broken off diplomatic negotiations with the emissaries of the asari, salarians and turians. He justified this move by saying that, quote: "with aliens of such arrogance one cannot establish a basis for any acceptable form of coexistence". Consequently, at the present time, all hope lies in the ambassadors of humans, even if the species mentioned are trying to flatten the waves again. The Roa Valla Sjem, which means: "Shield against the Outer Danger", is a strengthening party whose main goal is the expulsion or subjugation of any non-andromedarian species.“_

Samuel was already on his way to the Emissaries' Quarters while he was still listening to the news. He entered the quarters and saw Samara standing in front of her communication relay talking to an asari. She had noticed Samuel and, with a gesture of her hand, told him to wait in silence. Samuel stopped in the entrance after the door to the quarters had closed behind him. 

"There is a much greater pressure on you now, Emissary Wolfsbane. We regret that the talks have drifted in such a direction, but it was clear from the start that Sorva de Neesa or Ravos Jel Kaan had no interest in negotiating with us.“ The asari said.

"I will do my best to stabilize relations, Representative. It is important that the consul and her allies are on our side. The Resistance, on the other hand, has had a very ambivalent attitude so far. One half is well-disposed towards us, the other half is following the _Roa Valla Sjem_. Chazre de Tershaav, for example, is still on the side of _Roa Valla Sjem_ , whereas Saraan de Kanos, the second most powerful person in The Resistance, is more on our side.“ Samara replied. 

"We will give you all the support possible. Good luck, Emissary." The asari said goodbye before her hologram disappeared.

Samara sighed barely audible and looked at her brother, who leaned silently against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest and watched her.

"I suppose we‘re heading to Aya?" He asked and received confirmation.  
"I reckon I have similar chances of conciliating this Jel Kaan as one had of conciliating the krogans after the turians had released the Genophage.“ Samara said and typed something into the terminal. She looked tired.  
"I will definitely accompany you when you talk to this party leader." Samuel said.  
"That's what I wanted to ask you. I just wasn't sure you weren't too consumed with missions."  
"The protection of the Emissary is a priority, especially now. Hopefully the Nexus will take note of that." Samuel said.

So the next personal mission lead to Aya and included the protection of the Emissary. Samara even asked both of her bodyguards, Samuel and Thantos, to accompany her. Obviously she was afraid of the party leader. 

The Phoenix arrived a few days later in the spaceport of Aya. Emissary Samara Wolfsbane left the spaceship together with the Protectors and entered the entrance area between spaceport and city gate. At the foot of the ramp leading to the landing platform, the three were already expected by Consul Jolaza Sho and two of her companions. Samuel's attention, however was immediately drawn to the fourth angara who stood with the consul and the two others: Saraan. Saraan had been watching him all the time as he walked down the ramp with the emissary. He stood behind the consul and when their eyes met, he gave the white-haired elf a hearty smile. Samuel barely returned the smile but nodded slightly. He seemed completely calm and composed on the outside, as did Thantos. Neither of them showed any predominant emotion. However, both his sister and his soul brother could sense what was going on in Samuel. And what was going on in Saraan, whose looks at least Samara took note of. He could hardly take his eyes off Samuel at all. She greeted the consul and then Saraan as well as the two companions very politely. Thantos and Samuel bowed gallantly, then the three followed the four angara to the city of Aya.

One took the shortest way to the Andromeda Initiative Embassy. Samuel and Thantos walked behind Samara, the Consul and Saraan, while the two companions walked beside the Protectors. Most of the time, the emissary and the consul talked to each other. Jolaza Sho praised the emissary's determination to speak with the party leader, but urged her to be cautious. None of the other emissaries had achieved anything really positive. And the last conversation, the one with the turian emissary, had ultimately resulted in Ravo's Jel Kaan's statement.

"Ravos Jel Kaan is a charismatic and icy cold man. Please be on your guard." Said Jolaza.  
"I appreciate your concern, Consul Sho. I will do nothing to deepen the grudge." Samara replied. "I have a request to make of you, Consul. Would you stay close by while I speak with the party leader? I would also respectfully request that my two Protectors be allowed to stay close by."  
The consul looked thoughtfully at the redheaded elf. "Of course. I am sure that Jel Kaan will have companions as well. And if you fear for your safety, we will of course take every precaution to make you feel safe."

They entered the Andromeda Initiative Embassy together and met other angaran political and diplomatic representatives. The chairman of the party, Sorva de Neesa, right hand of Ravos Jel Kaan, was also present. Jolaza Sho addressed him and introduced Samara Wolfsbane. The angara, who was particularly conspicuous by the fact that he wore some kind fo eye patch on his right eye that hid it, seemed to have the same opinion about aliens like every member of the _Roa Valla Sjem_. One could see how little he thought of her. But for his rough exterior he behaved extremely cultivated, although he was brimming with self-confidence or rather arrogance. Samara was as polite and respectful to him as she was to anyone else, but that didn't seem to impress de Neesa. He talked more with Jolaza than with Samara, but at least he was persuaded to ask his superior for a meeting with the human emissary.

Samuel and Thantos remained silent most of the time. What was discussed here was highly political. One had to watch every word very carefully, it was like a game where losing meant expecting bad consequences. But Samara mastered this game. Samuel was always impressed how eloquent his sister was, how charismatic she could be. A rising star among diplomats, she was versed at forging new alliances with sensitivity, charm and courtesy, and convincing even the most stubborn competitors, skeptics or even enemies of one another to join forces or change their minds. Perhaps she even managed the supposedly impossible: to convince the hostile angara that not every alien was as evil as they thought.

Samara Wolfsbane was adopted as a little girl at the age of three from an orphanage in Bellingham on the north west coast of the USA by a diplomatic couple and brought to Vancouver in Canada. At school age, she was initially taught by tutors and showed very early on what a talent she had for flattering, encouraging and even intimidating others. Among her friends, she often took on the role of the leader or the "right hand". Her adoptive parents therefore decided to send her to a university for political and diplomatic affairs, where she very quickly became one of the best students. She graduated with the highest honors and afterwards attended other schools, especially those of the asari and salarians, to deepen or broaden her knowledge. While her brother somehow managed to make his way in the shadows in Seattle with wet work and other sinister businesses, Samara entered into a relationship with an asari diplomat who taught her even more – as well as to pay attention to her appearance and how biasing beauty can be. Her beauty was as much a calculation as her words. Samara rarely left anything to chance. After all, she was a more than a capable emissary. And Samuel told her this very often, because all too often Samara doubted herself and her abilities, but this was completely unfounded.

For the two bodyguards the day in the embassy was somewhat uneventful. Here and there they talked when one of the angaran representatives came to them, but most of the time they were ignored, because they were there for the security of the emissary and otherwise for little further services. Saraan was also present at the beginning, but there was no opportunity to talk to him in more detail, as the lieutenant was very busy and was finally called to the Resistance Headquarters. Samuel looked at him with almost a little longing. Thantos noticed this, who took a step towards his soul brother.

"You will be able to speak to him, soon." He whispered softly.

Samuel looked at him in bewilderment, but then lowered his eyes in embarrassment before turning his head back to Samara. So she had been able to arrange a meeting with the party leader, but de Neesa gave her little hope that this meeting would bring something positive.

"You are not an angara, so he will not be interested in what you have to say. Said de Neesa politely, but the look on his face betrayed what he actually wanted to say: _you are a worthless lower life form._

Samara did not let herself be put off. The meeting would take place tomorrow at noon in the Governor's Office. She asked Samuel and Thantos to be ready. And Jolaza would of course also be present. In the evening, the consul invited the emissary to a dinner at her home. 

She thanked and addressed Thantos and Samuel. "I will have another conversation with the consul alone. Protectors, please be ready for tomorrow, I will let you know as soon as I meet with the party leader.“  
"Of course, Emissary." Samuel replied politely. "We'll be prepraed, please let me know as soon as you've finished dinner tonight."  
Samara looked at her brother for a moment and then nodded. "I will."

He and Thantos bowed to her and left the embassy together. Outside, they both took a breath of fresh air. 

"I like to stay out of political affairs and I know why. They are either fabulously complicated and tangled or deadly dull affairs." Samuel murmured softly.  
„Yes, it‘s a wicked game.“ Thantos nodded.

The evening was uneventful and Samuel picked up the emissary later that night in front of the consul's residence to accompany her to the Phoenix. Samara was worried, not to say afraid, about speaking to the party leader tomorrow. Especially after Jolaza Sho had told her that the attaché of the salarian ambassador had allegedly been beaten by an attendant, a kind of bodyguard of Jel Kaan, because of a heated exchange of words between the salarian ambassador and Jel Kaan. 

"Please stay close to me, I don't feel like getting close to this guy." Samara said.  
"That's what we're here for, sis." Samuel replied.

The next noon Samuel, Samara and Thantos met in the Governor's Office and went to the meeting room where the conversation with Ravos Jel Kaan was to take place. The party leader of the _Roa Valla Sjem_ let them wait for half an hour until he showed up. He was an angara of average height, smaller than Saraan and wore patterns on his face that distinguished him as a former member of the Roekaar. What stood out was the scar that ran across his left cheek under his eye and up to his lip and burn scars on his neck. He had clearly experienced severe conflicts in the past.

Of course he did not come to the meeting alone. He was accompanied by Sorva de Neesa and, which was not a pleasant surprise for Samuel, Kardash Vikos. He and Samuel exchanged glances, Kardash very sinister and Samuel very unimpressed.

The two bodyguards were standing in the background, motionless in a latent military posture, with their hands crossed in front of their abdomens, just like Vikos and de Neesa, but eyed each other suspiciously, while Samara greeted Jel Kaan. She was relieved to see that Jolaza Sho finally entered the meeting room as well. To Jolaza's obvious surprise, Ravos behaved very gallantly toward the human emissary. However, this was probably nothing more than a show. Perhaps he actually found the red-haired elf so attractive that he did not treat her directly from above.

"Why don't we talk in private?" Ravos suggested after a rather superficial conversation. 

Samuel had watched Jolaza again and again and realized that she was irritated by the behavior of the angara who wanted to remove humans and all other species from the galaxy. When he suggested to speak to Samara alone, she seemed surprised. Samuel looked at his sister without moving his head. Samara seemed surprised as well, but didn't show it as clearly as Jolaza. She agreed after a short hesitation, whereupon Ravos Jel Kaan turned around and left the conference room without paying attention to the others present. He did not leave the room through the main door, but through a side door that led to the gardens behind the state house. Samara gave her two bodyguards a quick glance. Samuel looked directly at her with a motionless expression before he tried to move, but suddenly Kardash stepped into his path and gave him a sinister look. 

"In private means just the two of them." He said.

Samuel was already in the process of sending Kardash to the ground in his mind with just a few grabs and blows when Samara stepped up to the two of them and looked at her brother.

"The gardens are large enough that I can talk alone and yet you could be nearby, Protector." She said.  
"Your bodyguard and that of the party leader will follow you at a suitable distance." Suggested Jolaza and gave Sorva de Neesa a quick glance.  
"I don't mind." This one said. "You will let me know immediately if anything happens." He told Kardash.

Samara followed Ravos out of the room and disappeared into the hallway, then Samuel also started to move. Kardash followed him. He didn't want that brutal bastard at his back for a second, but Samuel assumed that Vikos was not stupid enough to make any attempt at an attack here. It would be the last thing he would ever do in his life. 

One entered a covered terrace, whose roof was held by beautiful bright decorative columns. There the bodyguards stopped. Samuel saw his sister walking to Ravos Jel Kaan before the two of them set off and walked through the gardens, a beautiful place, consisting of trees, shrubs and flowers of different mixed cultures of plant species of Andromeda and in fact Samuel even discovered Japanese bamboo. Truly a place to stroll during breaks, when one wanted to free one's mind from the political events. However, Samuel paid hardly any further attention to nature, but more to the two hostile angara and his sister, who now walked and talked with Jel Kaan. Because he did not want to let Kardash out of his sight completely either, he leaned against the column from which he had the best view.

Kardash had also leaned against one of the columns, but he observed more Samuel than the garden or the two people engaged in conversation. He assumed that his boss posed a much greater threat than the little pointed-eared human woman, so if a conflict arose, he would focus exclusively on the white-haired man. And actually, he hoped there was some reason to beat him to the ground and show him where his place was. Samuel felt Kardash fix him like a lurking predator from the undergrowth and he glanced at Kardash. An ominous smile flitted across the features of the unusually dark angara. Kardash was a creepy guy through and through. Samuel withstood the lurking gaze, returning it with a mask-like expression. He didn't want to know what was going through this madman's mind, but wondered why Vikos' skin was so dark, almost black. That was not normal. Maybe a disease?

"You have pointed ears." Said Ravos Jel Kaan, who had been eyeing Samara.  
"That is correct." She replied objectively.  
"But you are human."  
"That is also correct. However, I belong to what is known as a meta race. They call us elves. We are humans, but we differ in certain characteristics. Among other things, the pointed ears."

Ravos observed her. He seemed interested. But maybe it was all just for show again.

"Nevertheless, you are among the invaders of this galaxy. Just like the kett." He spoke gloomily.  
"I am truly sorry for what the kett have done to the angara. And I am ashamed of all the evil deeds that humans and the other species from the Milky Way have committed." Samara replied in a gentle yet firm tone. "But there are many who seek peace and friendship with the angara. It is very important to me to make these friendships grow.

Ravos looked at her, then stopped. Samara also stopped a moment later and looked at him. Her red silky hair framed her slightly pale skin and fell elegantly over her naked shoulders as she wore a red-green, calf-length dress, whose shoulders were free. Her green eyes looked up at the angara. Her pointed ears made her seem more exotic than any ordinary human. She was exceptionally beautiful, Jel Kaan had to admit that as well. Nevertheless, she was a lowly creature, but certainly suitable for the one or other entertaining hour or two. He perhaps would let her come to him. Without her bodyguards.

"We will see what your true intentions are. We will meet again. I will send you an invitation." Ravos apparently ended the conversation. 

"What are you gawking at, _vesagara_?" Kardash's eerie deep and rough voice penetrated Samuel's ear.

He wondered what answer he should give. Kardash had been the one who had started to stare first. But then he spoke out what had gone through his mind earlier:

"I was just wondering why your skin is so unusually dark." Why did he start a conversation with that guy? Not a good idea.

Kardash suddenly detached himself from the column and came towards Samuel who slowly released his arms from the entanglement and gave up his comfortable position in which he had been leaning against the column. However, he did not retreat, but remained standing in front of the column. With a neutral expression he looked at the angara, who had now stepped to within a meter of him and now looked down on him. He was as huge as Saraan. The green and yellow eyes were filled with cold. Samuel remained calm.

"Are you afraid?" Kardash asked, smiling gloomily.  
"No." Samuel replied.  
"You should be." Kardash said, leaning slightly toward Samuel. "If Ravos wins, times will be different. And then you will be mine."

Samuel was not sure what to make of those words. One thing was certain, however: Vikos had some kind of malicious fantasy in his head. He tensed up, but remained calm.

"Then everything must be done to prevent the _Roa Valla Sjem_ from coming to power." He replied.

Kardash smiled again. It was a malicious smile. "The kett." He spoke, straightened up again and walked a few steps away from Samuel, who breathed as quietly as possible. "They did this to me. Filthy, vicious aliens. Like you."

Samuel decided to stop talking to Kardash. However, this information was quite interesting.

Ravos Jel Kaan turned around and walked back the way he came to the Governor's Office. Samara was stunned. Ravos wanted to meet her again? Was that a success? She would talk to Jolaza about it and to Thantos and Samuel. She stepped up to her brother and just smiled casually.

"We will meet again." Spoke Ravos and the two elves looked at him.

Samuel had the sure feeling that this was more of a threat than anything else. Especially when Kardash's gaze was so focused on him, who once stared at him from top to bottom before following his superior back into the building. Samuel and Samara looked at each other in silence, then they too went back into the building.

Samara retired with Jolaza for counseling and dismissed her two bodyguards for that time. Meanwhile it was early evening in Aya and the light of the day presented itself in a soft orange-violet.

Samuel walked with Thantos along the avenue that led to the marketplace and entered the viewing platforms behind the square. Samuel leaned his forearms on the railing and looked out into the beauty of Aya. Thantos leaned his back against the railing and watched the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. The fresh air caressed their faces and hands, the parts of their bodies that were not covered. Samuel was as if a sweetly woody scent from the green sea of the forest kingdom of Aya was carried up to her. A feeling of contentment flew through his mind and said hello to the first stars at the horizon. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.

Thantos, who had been watching the former inhabitants of the Milky Way and angara, who were romping around here, had discovered Saraan, who was just coming along the path, looking at his omnitool. The drell looked at his soul brother after he had given Saraan a quick glance. Gently he touched him at the shoulder and Samuel looked at Thantos as he leaned towards him.

"I will just look at the goods of the angaran merchant there, _paratan_. Wait here till then." He spoke softly.  
"As you wish, _shaday_." Samuel replied. 

He had a questioning expression on his face, because in the first second he did not understand what Thantos wanted. But then an expression of understanding appeared on his face when he too had finally discovered Saraan and he embarrassedly knocked his gaze down. A smile played around the full lips of the drell, who turned away and walked leisurely past Saraan towards the marketplace. Oh, he knew that his beloved brother had a thing for the handsome lieutenant and curator of the Repository of History. Saraan looked up at Thantos as he walked past him. When he saw that Samuel was alone, he deactivated his omnitool and walked over to him. Samuel looked at him and felt a tingling sensation spreading throughout his body as he looked into those incredible deep blue cat eyes of the angara. Nevertheless, he remained polite and distant and bowed curtly as he began to speak formally.

"Lieutenant. It‘s nice to..."

But Saraan had no muse to remain polite and discreet any longer after he had finally met Samuel alone. And on top of that he was angara, the species that did not suppress their feelings and hardly ever did so in public. He reached out for Samuel and pulled him into a deep embrace. Surprised, he let himself be pulled to the broad chest of the angara and paused while the strong arms of the larger man wrapped around him. 

"At last we can talk. I... have missed you very much, Samuel." Saraan spoke gently.

For a few seconds Samuel stared into space as the words of the angara reached him until his mind slowly understood what his ears had just heard. Hesitantly he raised his arms, but then he returned the embrace gently. Saraan felt this immediately and breathed out. Samuel‘s heart leapt and his stomach began to tingle as he felt a hand gently stroke his back. Wow, what was going on? It was so incredibly pleasant when Saraan hugged him. Slowly Saraan let go of him again and took a step back. He seemed embarrassed.

"Excuse me, you know what we angara are like." He said.  
"Of course. But I am also very happy to see you again." Samuel replied, but did not dare to say that he too had missed Saraan very much. 

"Let me ask you something, Samuel." Said Saraan. "Would you like to come tomorrow night and...join my family? For dinner - don't worry, the food is all eatable."

Samuel looked at him. He was stunned. And touched. And delighted. Saraan‘s gaze became a little uncertain when the elf did not answer.

"If you don't want to, then..."  
"Oh, uhm, yes, yes, I... I would love to come to you and your family. I'm... just ...so surprised." Samuel replied, smiling shyly. "I'd be honored."

Saraan blinked at him, then he seemed to understand and a smile spread on his lips that reached his eyes and made the sapphires shine even more. Samuel felt the tingling in him increase. Gods, how he loved that smile and how he missed looking into those eyes.

"Oh, this is...wonderful!" Said Saraan. He seemed genuinely happy. "I'm very sorry, I have to get going again. I'll pick you up tomorrow night just before sunset. Maybe here?"  
Samuel nodded, "I‘d be glad to."  
"Good." Saraan smiled again and simply pulled Samuel into another hug, which he returned more this time. "See you tomorrow, then. I look forward to it." The angara said goodbye.  
"Yes, me too!" Said Samuel. "Until tomorrow." 

Saraan gave him one last look and smile before he turned and disappeared into the crowd. Samuel looked after him and did not notice at all how Thantos silently joined him. He didn't even make himself noticed at first, but stood there, a hand on his chin and watched his _paratan_ , while the smile on his lips grew wider and wider. When Samuel finally discovered him and looked surprised, even blushed a little, Thantos even grinned. Nervously Samuel scratched his head.

"What...?!" He mumbled softly but could not quite hide his smile.  
"My little brother is in love." Thantos gurgled with delight.

Samuel became even redder and hid his face in his hands before he turned to the railing and looked over Aya's wild world. Thantos stepped beside him and gently patted him on the shoulder.

"I-I do not know what I feel..." Said Samuel softly.  
"Oh, I think you do know."  
"Emotions are dangerous, Thantos. ... I will try not to get too involved."

"Sometimes it can't be controlled." Said the drell, driving one hand to the back of Samuel's neck. With his fingertips he glided over the bite wound, which had become a weak scar in the meantime. Samuel felt it immediately and at the same moment the elation vanished, because he thought of Varius. Dr. Ven'Tisa had given him an ointment that would gradually fade the scar until, with luck, it would disappear completely. He hoped it would disappear completely. 

"Enjoy tomorrow evening, Sam. Don't think too much." Thantos said softly.  
"I will try." Samuel replied.


	28. Chapter 20: A Crew Like No Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The phoenix crew is a bunch of nutcases and has to clean the ship for that....and Samuel is nervous because he is going to meet Saraan and his family for dinner.

The following day had been everything, but not uneventful. And Samuel had ordered a good part of his crew to get the Phoenix back on track. Because today his bunch of lunatics had taken the cake. It had started with Keni and Varius. The two had been arguing again about which drone technology was the more advanced or who could build better drones. Disputes between the two were not uncommon - they always argued when they saw each other, because Varius could not stand the quarian and that was mutual. So quarrels were pre-programmed and about as rare as the conflicts between Tiran and Teekoy, although lately these two had really been acting like model boys, but this time it was Varius and Keni who had gone over the top. And half the crew and three-quarters of the ship were involved. 

Samuel was still trying to reconstruct in his mind how on earth and why this chaos had arisen while preparing for the evening with Saraan and his family. He was actually a little nervous, but what happened today distracted him a little from his nervousness for the moment. 

So here's what had happened: there was the argument that had escalated, Tiberius, who had bitten Varius because he wanted to defend Keni. Keni had then fled from Varius because she had short-circuited his repair drone with her shower drone, and suddenly another oil-losing maintenance drone that had gone wild went rampage through the ship. Samuel had just managed to avoid the drones and pulled Jennifer Sola to safety before he had watched Varius run into Trox and accidentally ripped the full cooking pot out of his claws. Loudly clattering, the pot had fallen to the floor and spread throughout the kitchen and half the hallway and walls. Then Trox, after realizing what had happened, had roared loudly and furiously and had run after Varius. With the empty pot with which he had wanted to beat him up. 

Through the commotion Caliria, Samara and Thantos had appeared. Thantos had slipped and fallen on the floor. Teekoy had started to laugh too loudly because of this and thus secured the wrath of the drell. The volus had run away with a "uh-oh!" and Thantos ran after him like a cat. A dirty cat. The Watts twins had only looked outside once from the bridge and then quickly retreated, and Jake Goodwin had also turned on his heel and fled into his room. Samuel himself had followed Keni, Varius and Trox because he feared the krogan would beat the turian to a pulp or Varius Keni. He found the three in the cargo hold, where Patricia Potter was using her biotics to prevent the situation from escalating any further - Trox already had Varius by the balls and ridiculously hit his tank – the natural armor of a turian - with the cooking pot, while Keni hid behind the P-Nomad. The cargo hold was filled for several minutes with the barking of Tiberius and the muffled "clong! Clong! Clong!“ of the cooking pot, until Samuel put an end to it by grabbing his _shaday_ , which was still looking for Teekoy and commanding him to use _Commanding Voice_. An adept skill. This power channeled the adept's magic into his voice to enhance the modulation and pitch, subliminally influencing the actions of any listeners. 

Samuel would have done it himself, but the chip in his neck prevented it. But Thantos easily managed to call the angry crew members to order. And the Phoenix ended up looking like a pig sty. Varius, Keni and Trox were ordered to clean the ship. Out of solidarity, Tiran, Patricia, Teekoy, Caliria and Jennifer Sola helped out, after she and Dr. Ven'Tisa made sure that no one was seriously hurt. Varius would have gotten a few bumps, but no one else had actually been hurt.

Such nonsense could really only happen on the Phoenix. This ship was often referred to as a flying madhouse, not without good reason. In any case, Samuel would have something to tell tonight, but he wondered whether he should really do so, otherwise there was a danger that the Phoenix crew would be considered an unprofessional bunch of nutcases. Yes,okay, they were. But every one of them was just as brilliant. 

Samuel stepped out of his cabin in black and white boots, very light but of course slightly reinforced black leather pants and a dark blue shirt, over which he wore a leather jacket, and strolled once more towards the hold to see how far the cleaning had progressed, while tying his white hair back to a loose braid and letting a few shorter strands hang in his face. He approached the railing and placed his hands on the top bar. Below it looked quite good. Keni was busy cleaning up the oil stains and it didn't smell so much like krogan chili in the hallway anymore. Varius came to meet him on the same floor with a cleaning bucket and stopped when he saw the commander.

"Oh, are you leaving tonight?" He asked casually.  
Samuel looked at him and nodded. "Until then, you have time to clean the ship."

A loud clatter followed by whimpering in the hold below and made Varius step to the railing next to Samuel and look down as Samuel did. Tiberius had thrown a toolbox from a table and left in fright. Samuel shook his head and had to laugh softly. Varius looked at him. Damn, he looked so stunning. And it was damned rare that he smiled or even hinted at a laugh.

"You are in a better mood today than usual. That's nice." Varius noticed, although he feared the reason for Wolfsbane's high spirits.  
"Oh, mh, yes." Samuel replied succinctly. 

He looked at Varius for only a moment, but then turned his gaze away again. Lost in thought? Embarrassed? Something warm shimmered in his diamond eyes. His thoughts, his feelings, everything positive focused on this evening. Probably on a very specific person. And this person made him shine. This light smile magically came over his lips. Varius knew that it was certainly not him who gave his commander those feelings. It was nice to see Samuel like that. But he hated the one who was responsible. Why couldn't this smile and this radiance apply to him, Varius?

"Well, I'll see you later." Samuel said goodbye to Varius and left the platform to head for the airlock.  
"See you later." Murmured the turian and looked after him longingly. 

All of a sudden Caliria stepped next to Varius at the railing and looked with him into the passage. "I think it's a good time for a drink, don't you?" She said.  
Varius sighed and nodded. "Or a bottle. Let's clean the rest, then we'll have a drink."

Samuel left the Phoenix and entered the spaceport. His thoughts were still with Varius at that moment. That had been an uncomfortable moment. Just unpleasant. Why on earth did he have to fall in love with him? Samuel still hoped that the feelings his rigger had for him would eventually fade away. He couldn't force any of them out of himself, even though Varius frighteningly often managed to provoke physical emotions and make him downright defenseless. He could not allowe to let this happen anymore! But how could he prevent for his body seemed to have developed a real addiction for the turian‘s arts of seduction?

Samuel closed his eyes and stopped for a moment. No. No, he no longer wanted to think about Varius and what was and should not be between them. Tonight he would meet Saraan's family. Oh, that even helped wonderfully. Now the feeling of confusion had disappeared and he remembered that he was actually quite nervous. It somehow was as if he was going to meet the parents of his crush. What a thought! Samuel felt really stupid when he noticed a mere thought made him blush without any action from another person. He acted like a college student! So absorbed in his thoughts, he entered the city of Aya and walked along the streets that led to the marketplace.


	29. Chapter 21: Saraan and his Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel gets to know Saraan's huge family and is very nervous about that and finds out a few things that evening.

Half an hour later he had arrived at the observation platform and stopped. When he saw the nocturnal beauty of the forest, all his thoughts, worries and fantasies were blown away and he sank into the sight of what was spreading beneath him. A longing sigh slipped from his chest. A lukewarm wind danced across the treetops of the trees and rose to him, caressing his face and bringing with it the sweetly woody scent of the forest. Samuel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A sound behind him made him open his eyes and look over his shoulder. He could perceive a figure and turned around with a neutral expression. Saraan stood before him. He was not wearing his official garments of the Resistance, but black trousers with silver decorations and a shimmering dark blue Rofjinn under which a black shirt was visible. Around his neck hung the links of a silver chain, whose pendant disappeared under the Rofjinn. Samuel could dop nothing but looking at the angara for a few seconds who blinked uncertainly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said.  
"Oh, no, no, you didn't scare me..." Samuel answered and added something that he had actually only wanted to think: "You look great.“  
Saraan smiled. "Thanks for the compliment. You too."  
Samuel shyly returned the smile.  
"Well, come on, the house isn't that far away." Saraan invited him and Samuel followed.  
"I... must confess I'm a little nervous. I've never been invited anywhere before. Especially not to a family dinner." Samuel said softly.

A little nervous was an understatement! He fought the most horrible creatures and ventured into the darkest parts of the galaxy, even alone, facing the worst of criminals in a duel. But he was downright afraid to face Saraan‘s family. And he could not even say why. Saraan seemed to sense that.

"You do not need to be afraid. I'm sure everyone will like you. Maybe a few will take a little longer, but..." He leaned over a little bit and said with a gentle smile: "I did need a little longer, too.“

Samuel smiled briefly and nodded. They left the city center and followed streets and alleys, turning off a few times until they came to an area where there were mainly large apartment buildings and houses. Samuel took a short look. He had never been in this area of the city before, though he had never had any reason to do so. Saraan headed for a house that was characterized by an unusual tree or shrub that grew next to the main entrance. He pressed the lock pad and told Samuel to enter. A light smell, sweet and exotic, immediatley reached his nose. Samuel entered a hallway with two doors on the left and two on the right. Already here they met several angara, male and female, of different sizes. Saraan seemed to be one of the largest angara here and went ahead and led the elf past greeting family members through a large main door at the end of the relatively short corridor, into a kind of living room where many angara romped or sat around.

"Hello Saraan!", "Hey Sary", "Good evening Saraan", "Hey, is this your friend, Sary?", "He's small and slim, he needs to eat! - this comment came from an angara who spontaneously thought of Samuel as a grandmother. Countless strange cat-like eyes looked at him and examined him. Samuel greeted when he was greeted and followed Saraan further into another room, which was possibly also a kind of living room. Here, too, angara swarmed. He had forgotten again how big angaran families were. Impressively large. In the other room a female angara approached the two of them and smiled at Saraan.

"Ah, here you are. So this is your friend?" She spoke in an older, very soft voice.  
"Yes, true mother, this is Samuel Wolfsbane. Samuel, this is my true mother, Nanvfaen."

Samuel instantly remembered the etiquette of Japan, the country where he had lived long after leaving Seattle, where persons of respect were greeted with obeisance. The etiquette of the drell interestingly showed some similarities. He gallantly bowed at an angle of almost 45°, the "keirei", to the mother of the man who had invited him and sensed that he was once again receiving a questioning glance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Navfaen." He said.  
"Oh, but I am not a queen that you should bow down!" Giggled the woman.  
Samuel stood up again and looked at her with embarrassment. "This is how a person of respect is greeted in the part of the world where I lived." He said.  
But she approached him and embraced him: "This is how the angara greet each other!“  
Saraan watched the two of them and smiled in delight. "Samuel is almost overly polite. He bows a lot." He said.  
That was not helpful now. Samuel felt himself blushing slightly. "Yes, that‘s ...true." He said timidly after Navfaen had released him.

Saraan smiled broadly and his mother looked at him, then she turned back to Samuel: "You must be hungry, I have prepared something especially for you, come!“

She was just about to take Samuel with her after taking him by the hand when a squeaky "Saaaamueeeeeel!" Echoed down the hallway and a moment later Samuel was jumped on by a small angara at full speed.  
"Wow!" Samuel could barely stand on his feet, staggered and was caught by Saraan. Now an angaran child was hanging from his neck like a big backpack.

"Ah, hey Laruhn!" Samuel gasped.  
"Laruhn, will you - oh, Samuel!" Now Garuhna also stepped into the passage and her eyes began to shine when she saw the elf.

She came up to him and hugged him as much as she could. Then she pulled Laruhn off him, who looked at Samuel: "Will you show me how to beat up bastards today?“  
"Laruhn, where did you hear those words?" Nevfaen asked and put her hands on her narrow hips.  
Samuel once looked from left to right and murmured: "I ... don't know if that's a good idea."  
"I don't know either." A new male voice spoke up.

An angara, as tall as Saraan and just as impressive, almost a little bit frightening, came to the small group and looked down at the elf with a sceptical expression. He even narrowed his eyes for a moment and caused an unpleasant feeling in Samuel. He knew this look only too well. The mistrust was still in many angara and thanks to the deeds of the New Order it had grown again.

"Kharsan, this is Saraan's friend, Samuel Wolfsbane." Said Garuhna.  
"The human, yes. I have overheard." The angara replied.  
"To be precise, he is an elf. Samuel, Kharsan is our true father." Garuhna said again.  
Samuel also bowed to him. "Nice to meet you too...Sir." He said somewhat hesitantly and stood up again.

In Kharsan's face there was an interplay between mistrust and amusement. "Well, he seems to have good manners." He finally replied.  
"More than that. He heroically saved Saraan's life." Said Garuhna. "And almost died himself."  
Saraan glanced at his sister, then looked at his father and nodded affirmatively. "He is my _tavetaan_."  
"He saved your life?" Kharsan wondered and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he examined Samuel more closely. "Interesting."

Samuel lowered his eyes and held his silence at first. He was uncomfortable that Garuhna and Saraan were downright praising him so much. He was everything, but certainly no hero. The existence as a _kouday_ , as a slave of a drell, combined with parts of the samurai way of life had made him humble. Navfaen noticed that the elf was obviously not feeling comfortable and grabbed him by the wrist again.

"Come, I hope you like what I've prepared!" She said friendly.  
"I'm sure I will." Samuel replied, showing a shy smile as he followed Navfaen.

Garuhna, Saraan and Laruhn followed them into another room, which was probably the dining room, because of the long table that stood in the middle of the room and where some angara were already sitting and dining. They too looked up when Navfaen entered with Samuel by the hand and looked at the elf with curious or skeptical glances. No facial expressions that were foreign to him, but on the streets he could ignore them, here it was not so easy, especially because he did not want to leave a too negative impression. Again he felt like a college student, gods, that was unpleasant! That evening Samuel realized how little he was used to normal contact. He only knew life as a commander, the training, mediation and prayers with Thantos, the missions as APEX agent, the constant knowledge of danger, pain and, well, lately, thanks to his rather pushy sniper, the physical desires. But all this social, mostly interpersonal stuff was hardly to his liking, although he knew how to behave very well. At the table, he once again realized how little he could and wanted to deal with his feelings in contrast to the angara.

The alcohol that had been served after the meal, which had been very unusual but very good, at least provided some relief. Kharsan had brought a violet shimmering bottle and poured a glass for himself, Samuel, Saraan and some others at the table. The stuff smelled fruity and did not give the impression of being hard alcohol and Samuel didn't want to make a faux pas by refusing the drink in the end. Similar to the Rynkol he once drank with Trox, he knew that he probably would regret drinking it. But he was surprised. The alcohol was actually very mild and tasted very good. And it didn't seem to go to his head as much as feared. Much later he realized that it took two glasses to get drunk well.

After the meal Laruhn obviously couldn't stand it anymore. No sooner was Samuel ready to eat and drink than little angara jumped up and rushed to him to pull him from his chair to his legs. Amused, the adult angara watched the scenario. Garuhna and Navfaen giggled softly and Saraan smiled. Even Kharsan seemed amused as the little one pulled the somewhat overwhelmed elf with him.

"Come, come, let's go to the garden!" He shouted.  
"Uhm, yes, wait." Samuel gave Saraan a help-me?-look before he followed Laruhn.

Garuhna and the lieutenant followed them out into the garden. It was big and beautiful, the grass grew in a lush green-violet, the walls were smooth and bright and what surprised Samuel was the bamboo that grew and decorated a small pond. A little bit of this place reminded him of the gardens of Japan. Laruhn pulled him to a free flat spot and then let him go. His big eyes looked expectant when he said that his uncle Saraan had told him how he had seen Samuel's martial arts and how his ability to move so agile and elegant and above all so incredibly fast was compared to a cat-like species native to Andromeda. Samuel smiled embarrassed when he heard this. The little one wanted to learn to be as fast and accurate as he was, so Samuel tried to make him understand that all this required years of continuous training. In any case, he had esprit and was eager to learn, the adept could not deny him that.

Watched by Garuhna, who sat on a stone under a tree near the walls in the garden, and watched by Saraan, who leaned against the tree with arms crossed in front of his chest, Samuel tried to teach the bright angara boy what made a good fighter. Among other things he liked to refer to the 10 Basic Attitudes, once described in the book "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi together with the drell writing "The Way of the Holism of the Soul", in which among other things the wholeness of body, soul, spirit and environment was described, but for the little one this was too complex. Nevertheless, he explained a few things to him first.

"Never use your skills to brag or to hurt others for no reason. And if you can avoid a fight, do it." Samuel said.  
"What if I do have to fight?" Asked Laruhn, being attentive to the adept. "What if my real mother is in danger, or my uncle, or you?"  
Samuel smiled glibly when he heard that the little one was apparently worried about his well-being, too.  
"If those you love are in danger, do not hesitate, but try to use your wits anyway." He said.  
"Saraan was in danger then, and he said you were in danger afterwards!"  
Samuel looked at little angara. "Yes, I put myself in danger."  
"Because you care for uncle Saraan very much, don't you?" Laruhn said that with the ease of a child.

Samuel lowered his eyes in embarrassment. Garuhna glanced at her brother, who was obviously looking at the elf with delight and noticed that he had turned slightly purple at Laruhn‘s words. _Well, well, if this wasn‘t the truth! Her dear brother of all people._ She thought and smiled and looked back to the other two. Samuel cleared his throat softly, nodding his chin towards the stick Laruhn was holding in his hand and probably wanted to use as a fighting stick.

"Well, what is it? Shall I show you a few tricks?"

Laruhn's enthusiastic exclamation of approval caused a few of his family members to look out into the garden and made Garuhna laugh. In the following hour, Samuel could show Saraan's nephew some moves that who was able to imitate very well. He was tireless and would probably want to train with the elf in the garden all night, but his mother and grandmother objected and eventually pushed the protesting boy back into the house. Amused, Samuel looked after the two of them and waved as Laruhn waved him goodbye, only to start a discussion on the terrace again about the fact that he was not tired at all. Children were the same everywhere. And mothers apparently were too, Samuel thought to himself. Suddenly a latent pain flashed through his head, emanating from his neck. He pulled a face as he turned to the pond and put his fingertips to his temples to massage the pain away. Saraan had noticed this and slowly approached him.

"You all right, Samuel?" He asked with a slight concern in his voice.  
"Yes, everything's fine. I just get headaches sometimes from the implant." Samuel replied and when asked by Saraan, he found out that he didn't know anything about the chip.  
"Implant?"  
"Yes. unfortunately I had to get a stupid chip implanted because my powers could kill me sooner or later, according to my medical officer. That back on Elaaden was probably too much. Since then I can't access them anymore and I am a little restricted, but it's liveable." Samuel explained when he turned to Saraan.  
"Oh." The angara lowered his eyes guiltily. "Which means it's my fault you're weakened now."

Samuel looked at him. Should he now tell him that unfortunately was indeed the case? He probably would never have overused his powers so massively if he hadn't had to save Saraan's life. Should he be objective and tell him that it would have been only a matter of time anyway before the ki overreacted like that or should he make it clear to him that he cared so much about him that he didn't care what happened to him at that time? Samuel chose the friendly option - anything else would have saddened Saraan even more.

"It was important to me to save you. It was my decision to risk my life."  
"You knew you could die." Saraan said, lowering his eyes.  
"Yes, I knew that. But I..." samuel hesitated, and Saraan looked up at him again. The alcohol made him a little more open, "wanted to prove to you that I was serious about our friendship."  
"You have. I never thought I would say this to an alien, but you have my trust.“ Saraan said.  
"That really means a lot to me, Saraan." Samuel replied quietly.

They were alone in the garden at night. Surrounded by an almost romantic backdrop, gently enveloped by the dusky glow of Onaon, which enveloped the night sky in an unreal color. Samuel looked up to the sky as a gentle breeze pranced through the garden, playing with the bamboo, which then made the soft wooden sound that Samuel knew so well. In the midst of this moment, a feeling of longing, of homesickness was stealing in. Actually there was not much he missed. The two most important people had traveled here with him. And yet sometimes the thought of the old earth or of Kahje came up. Saraan looked at him, lost in thought, as he looked at the swaying bamboo.

"Samuel, are you comfortable here?"

The question surprised him so much that he looked at Saraan in wonder. He was waiting for an answer, it seemed.

"Yes, Aya is beautiful. I like being here." He said and saw how the features of the angara brightened and he smiled gently, which again caused a slight tingling in Samuel.

When they met, Saraan had radiated nothing but rejection, now joy entered his face whenever they met. It was a small miracle, especially because he of all people, who often did not have the greatest social competence, had brought about a change of heart in a former Roekaar – yonder who hated and killed aliens.

"And...I am glad that you are here." Said Saraan and smiled now in a shy way: "By the stars, I never thought I would say that to an alien. Thank you."

Samuel hoped that the starlight hid how he turned slightly red. "Thank you, for what?"  
"For being who you are. That we have become... friends."

Samuel felt how the tingling in him multiplied and he tried to fight it down out of habit and was once again overcome by his habit of bowing which he did. "It is an honor to be your friend, Saraan."  
Saraan laughed softly: "and always so polite."  
Now Samuel blushed clearly and rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he stood up again. "Well...the hanar credit me with that." he murmured.  
"Forgive me, I didn't mean to embarrass you." Said Saraan.  
"That usually doesn't happen to me." Samuel replied - okay, now was that good enough to say?  
"You mean I'm causing you embarrassment?" Saraan asked.  
"Uhm....yes." Samuel replied quietly.

He looked at Saraan again, looked into those sapphire-blue cat eyes that glowed so softly, galaxies that cast a spell over him. Angara's eyes seemed to be the equivalent of the song of sirens: one was captivated by her sights and her voices. Yes, Saraan's voice was captivating, too, that dark, calm and gentle sound enveloped him. All this confused him so much and he had to resist the desire to embrace him and when he caught his gaze twitching towards the lips of the angara, he turned away his gaze. Damn, was it only the alcohol that made him want to kiss Saraan? He had just actually toyed with that thought. No, he couldn‘t do that by any means.

"Shall we go back into the house?" Samuel asked.  
"Of course, if you'd like." Saraan replied.

Saraan paused a moment longer and saw Samuel walking ahead. Thoughts enveloped his mind. Questions, questions that he wanted to ask Samuel, questions that he asked himself but did not ask. Because he felt the barrier of the other. But it was really just that: a barrier. A protective mask. Saraan's experiences and skills had made him a trained observer and taught him to read in others. Ever since that time in the interrogation room he had analyzed Samuel again and again. Why? He did not know exactly himself. He wanted to find out which emotions were predominant in the other one, wanted to know what was going on in his head. Maybe because he himself was unsure what to feel or if what he had gradually begun to feel. Yes, angara were free with their emotions and he was one of the most powerful of his species and just like Samuel, he did not fear fighting, darkness or pain. But this was something completely different. It would make him incredibly vulnerable if he continued on this path. And that was what he was afraid of. He had never really opened himself to anyone before.Just never found his counterpart. And then a new thought arose in his mind like a nova: by the stars, it could be that ...

" _Jove vaasholan?_ " He whispered, so completely lost in thought that he did not even really perceive it.

Samuel had heard a murmur behind him and looked back over his shoulder and when he saw that Saraan had not moved, he stopped and looked at him questioningly. "Saraan?" He pronounced the name gently and the angara awoke from his thoughts. Slowly he started to move and followed Samuel to the door that led inside and before which the elf let him go ahead. Saraan threw a warm smile at him and entered the building, followed by Samuel. Some members of the family had gathered in the large living room and went about their daily business there; at any rate, Samuel assumed that in angara families, people often sat together that evening and read, talked, played games or watched movies. Garuhna invited Samuel to the latter. A sister of the two, two brothers and three cousins, as well as an aunt joined them. Samuel was really sorry that at some point he could no longer see who was who and who was related or connected to whom and how, but this made him more likely to amuse most people when he embarrassedly tried to memorize names and affiliations. In any case, he knew that Ghovaan, a brother of Saraan, had poured him a second brandy, which he had accepted as a courtesy.

Garuhna made sure that Samuel sat down on the most comfortable of the sofas and then sat down next to him while Saraan sat down on his other side. When the two younger and somewhat bolder cousins squeezed in, it did get quite cozy on the sofa. Saraan looked at Samuel from his cousin's side and he thought he noticed a shy smile before Saraan put his arm on the back of the sofa behind Samuel.

"Oh, uhm, I...hope you don't mind? It's just more comfortable for me." Saraan smiled as he saw the look on samuel's face.  
"I don't mind." Samuel replied, smiling casually.

A small flame flared up in his chest when he saw the deep look that Saraan gave him, to that gentle smile. Perhaps he was just imagining it? Fleetingly the thought flashed past him that Saraan put his arm around him and he leaned against him. He quickly banished this thought.

It could well be that the angaran brandy was already clouding his senses too much. Sitting next to Saraan did indeed make him a bit nervous, but it was a nervousness of a completely different nature than the one he felt when Varius sat next to him, cheeky as he was, putting an arm around him. There was always a strange tension in him. Well, next to Saraan, the feeling was like, like - he didn't know what to do with it, but would classify it as "pleasant feelings". Maybe it looked similar in the angara, maybe he didn't care about such things at all.

The last hours of the evening before nightfall were very pleasant, comfortable, and created a new feeling in Samuel that he had never known before. Garuhna took him aside at some point and spoke to him because she had noticed how thoughtful the elf had become. He hesitantly let her know that he had never had or experienced an intact family in his life, especially not one like the de Kanos family.

"It is very nice to see your family like this. I am really grateful to you for letting me be here tonight." Said Samuel, just as Nanvfaen joined him and her daughter.  
"I'm glad you like it here. It's the first time an alien has ever entered this house." Said Nanvfaen.

Samuel nodded softly and glanced at Saraan, who was talking to his real father Kharsan, when Garuhna said: "he has changed since you met. His old anger seems to have almost disappeared.“ She sounded kind of hopeful.

The beginning of the night finally reminded Samuel that it was time to say goodbye. He thanked Kharsan and Nanvfaen again and was hugged by Garuhna and Ghovaan and some others. It was strange for him to have so much physical contact with strangers. But the hugs proved to him that he had probably not made too bad an impression. And he could see that evening what kind of self-doubt was gnawing at him when it came to things in life that had nothing to do with fighting, commanding, training or, well, sex. Saraan accompanied him through the city and Samuel enjoyed the hour he spent with Saraan on the road, even though they did not speak much to each other. Samuel was too absorbed in his thoughts for his own part and did not really notice how little he spoke, playing absently with an object in his coat pocket until Saraan addressed him.

"Is everything all right? You are so silent."  
"I'm actually mostly very quiet." Samuel replied calmly.  
"Why is that?"  
"Because... one should keep silent when one has nothing to say." Somewhat absent-mindedly, Samuel recited one of the many teachings describing the drell religion.  
Saraan looked at him and asked cautiously: "didn't you like the evening?"  
The question tore the elf out of his absence of mind and he looked at the angara. "Yes – yes, of course, I liked it very much. It was...the most beautiful evening in a long time. And I thank you for it. Forgive me if I say so little just now. I'm just thinking."  
Saraan's features brightened up again. "You may be thinking too much sometimes."  
"Yes, perhaps." Samuel replied, smiling thinly.  
"You smiled a lot today. You should do that more often, it makes you...even more attractive. Not that you're not already attractive." Said Saraan in his open manner and made Samuel blush a little.  
"Thank you. I‘ll try that." He replied softly.

Aya's marketplace was deserted and empty at this hour as they passed it and headed for the spaceport where the Phoenix stood. Then he suddenly remembered what object it was he had played all the time with in his pocket, had felt its shape with his fingertips, the ribbon it was hanging on: when he had been on the road in Aya for the very first time, he had bought a pendant, a jewel. At that time he had not been sure what the symbol meant, he had wanted to give the pendant to Samara as a gift. And had completely forgotten it. Now he pulled it out almost half a year later. Dark blue and green shimmered the smoothly cut and polished stone and on one side a symbol was engraved.

"Tell me, what does this symbol mean?" Samuel asked and showed the pendant to Saraan.  
He took it in his hand and looked at it. "Hm" before a smile came over his features. "It means 'deep connection' or 'love'. Lovers give each other this gemstone as a gift. It is one of the hardest materials in the galaxy and is correspondingly difficult to engrave, so of course it has a highly symbolic character.“  
"Oh. I see." Samuel replied embarrassed.  
"Yes, that is what the symbol means." Said the angara.

He suddenly took Samuel's hand and placed the jewel inside, before gently closing the elf's hand with his own - as if … he was just giving this gemstone to him. And in doing so, he looked so deeply at him with his cat eyes that Samuel was seized with a deep shudder. What by the three gods was happening to him right now? While he was still asking himself this question, he could still hear the voice in his mind that warned him and called him to reason. Emotions were fatal. Only a few seconds passed in which possibilities, reactions, behaviour could decide about the further path. Samuel, outwardly calm, let the moment pass. He chose to take up the fight against this upcoming storm and gradually regained the upper hand. Saraan let go of his hand again and took a step back. Even if it was only seconds, he had seen something in the human being. For a moment his mask had cracked. But Samuel was too controlled. And Saraan too careful.

„Thanks for clearing it up." Samuel finally spoke and put the jewel back in his jacket pocket.

Gods, how his heart pounded in his chest! Despite the alcohol, which was not the first time that evening that a strange desire was ignited in him. The desire to kiss Saraan. He suppressed this just as quickly. He felt so confused. Why did this angara upset him so much? And how might Saraan feel? Was he aware that he was so confused? No, no, he did not want to think about it any further.

"If... if you don't mind, I'll walk the last stretch alone. I thank you for accompanying me. And for the evening. It was very nice. Really." Said Samuel as calm and polite as possible.

Saraan clearly noticed the change in the other man. His own heart was beating much faster than before. It had simply been a request to return the jewel to Samuel in this way. He had, for a brief moment, insanely hoped that Samuel would not accept it but let him keep it. For a crazy moment, as they looked at each other like this, he felt the need to take him in his arms and .... he turned purple in his face and cleared his throat quietly.

"Oh, of course. I am glad you enjoyed it. Give my regards to your own little family if you like." He said.  
Samuel nodded and showed a reserved smile. "I'm sure they'll be very happy." _Mental note: don't tell the whole crew about the evening and don't address Varius at all._

They said goodbye to each other with a rather shy hug, then they both left the small square where they had stopped and each went his own way. Saraan listened to himself when he was on his way home. He felt good. Very good even. But at the same time he felt so fearful. There was a struggle inside of him. And yet he was sure of one thing: it had not been a mistake to invite Samuel home. Not at all. And he wanted to see that human more often. His heart had blossomed even more.

The Pendant _(read from right to left)_


	30. Chapter 22: Jungle Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resistance fighters, Paladin and Phoenix crew members are training on Havarl to get to know each other better.

Havarl, the eternally dark jungle planet, a few days later. Selected fighters of the Phoenix, the Resistance and the Paladin had gathered at Havarl's military training area to train together and practice maneuvers and infantry combat in the jungle of Havarl. For this training unit, which was approved and closely watched by General Chazre de Tershaav, they had met in the entrance area to a marked out, secured training area, which the Resistance had built up and improved over the past years. They had erected a building not far from the Pelaav Research Station, the angara's main base on Havarl, a kind of troop camp with shelters, sanitary facilities and canteen. There were walls around a small part of the jungle with gun and surveillance towers at each corner and two in the middle of the wall. In this way the fighters of the Resistance, the Heskaarl and now also alien units could train here without being too exposed to the danger of an enemy surprise attack. Jungle warfare could be practiced here without any problems. 

The area was quite large with about 135 meters width and 180 meters length, about one and a half soccer fields, besides it was not a jungle area throughout: in front of the building where the soldiers, fighters and agents met, there was a large free training area, which on one side had a shooting range for firearm courses, on the other side there were training dummies for close combat without real physical contact. Next to this place, an obstacle course began, consisting of various climbing obstacles, followed by sand pits, tripping hazards, crawling trenches, rope bridges attached to trees, a laser field, a drone field and the jungle strip where maneuvers against enemy infantry were practiced, with the corresponding difficult conditions that Havarl generously provided. Some obstacles could be overcome alone, some required the help of comrades and in the jungle maneuvers teamwork was essential. Those who rehearsed alone were dead faster than they could say "galorn". This statement came from Chazre himself, who called the assembled "welcome".

"You are allowed to train here with the fighters of the Resistance, because the human emissary actually brought up some reasonable arguments, since aliens otherwise have no access here on this terrain. And if it had been exclusively up to me, it would have remained that way. However....", he threw a short critical glance at Lieutenant Saraan de Kanos, who, along with Samuel and Jace Atrix, the leaders of the respective other groups, stood opposite the others, "others see it somewhat differently than I do.“

The leader of the Resistance walked, his hands crossed behind his back, first along the nine resistance fighters, strong warriors of about middle age, some younger, who stood in a row in a loose posture, and then walked on, past Jace's soldiers, seven turians and eyed them one by one. The members of the paladin had taken up their posture and stood at attention, as one was used to seeing soldiers. Jace could be proud of his disciplined crew.

"You will first do the obstacle course." 

He walked on and passed the Phoenix crew, of whom only Caliria, Varius and Patricia stood at attention, for all three had had a military career at some point. Thantos had not taken a wide-legged pose, but had crossed his hands behind his back, a typical pose which at least always reminded Samuel of an old martial arts master which he basically was. _Never make the mistake to call Thantos old, even though this might be sort of true._ Trox, Teekoy and Keni stood completely relaxed, Trox even had his arms crossed in front of his chest. Chazre didn't seem to mind that, though, or he simply ignored it because he did not have a high opinion of aliens anyway and therefore probably expected little discipline. However, he stopped and his gaze became more than critical when he saw Tiberius sitting on his hind legs next to Keni.

"What is this?" He asked in a bored and gruff tone.  
"Tiberius is a life saver, he will do a good job in the obstacle course, I guarantee it!“ Keni said quickly.  
„No.“ Chazre snorted.  
„But-..?“ Said Keni.  
"The critter stays here." Said Chazre, whereupon Tiberius set back his ears and growled softly at the angara.

Seeking help, the quarian looked at her commander. It was clear that he had to settle this now.

"Tiberius had better just watch at first. He could be mistaken as wild animal and in danger of being shot by a resistance fighter or a crew member of the Paladin.“ He said, adding only in his mind: _or any member of my crew._

Keni then sent Tiberius toward the building, whereupon the Andromedarian space dachshund trotted off with hanging ears. Chazre, meanwhile, stared at Teekoy, who, it would be hard to believe, was holding a kind of electronic cigarette in his gripper-like limb, which he kept putting to the respirator of his breathing apparatus. Bluish smoke rose up. Samuel rose an eyebrow, almost simultaneously to Thantos, who was looking at the volus, too. Noticing the critical looks of the three, Teekoy deactivated the device and put it away, coughing softly. Chazre shook his head and walked on. Trox looked at the angara, who was about his size, unimpressed and rumbled softly. For a moment, an unpleasant tension seemed to emerge between the two of them, which was resolved a little as the general continued speaking.

"As I said, an obstacle course. Of course I don't expect you to keep up with the resistance fighters, but at least try to get to the finish line. That's on the other side." He pointed with his chin ahead in the direction of the course that was in him.  
"We can do it without any problems, Phoenix Crew!" Trox suddenly shouted and received approval, of course from Teekoy and Keni.

Jace next to Samuel spread his mandibles to a turian grin as he looked at him: "Sweet, your expert crew."  
Samuel lowered his head a little and buried his face behind one hand. "Kalahira, help me." He sighed softly while Saraan smiled to himself.  
"Prepare and form teams of two. We will start soon!" Chazre instructed the participants and went to the resistance fighters.

Jace and Samuel went to their respective crew while Saraan went to the other angara and talked to their people. The Paladin crew meeting was more military in nature: concise, clear instructions. Jace was quite capable of this, as Samuel noted, who listened briefly before turning to his own crew. At first they were instructed not to destroy anything, not to hurt anyone if possible, and - looking at Trox and Teekoy - not to blow anything up or set it on fire. The meeting within the Phoenix crew was based more on admonitions and the commander's quiet hope that his crew would behave. Military discipline was often sought in vain if it was not an emergency.

"When did I set something on fire?" The volus asked outraged.  
"Not yet, but if you handle that smoking thing again, it could happen." Samuel answered and looked at the volus with punishment. "What was that all about?"

"Well, I just thought it looked cool. The e-cigarette, the sniper on the shoulder, huh?" Teekoy replied, tilting his head crooked.  
"You won't do that again." Samuel reached out a hand. "Give me that cigarette."

Grumbling softly, the volus handed the device over to the commander who called for Tiberius, who came running immediately and put the cigarette in one of the free pockets of the vest the dog always wore, usually filled with tools or snacks. He was patted and sent back. 

"Hey, Wolfsbane!" Jace suddenly shouted and took a few steps towards the Phoenix crew. Samuel looked at him questioningly. "I bet my crew is better than yours. And faster. And more disciplined anyway." Said the turian.  
_With the ‚more disciplined‘ he might even be right_ , Samuel thought. "I told you before, I don't gamble. That includes betting." He replied calmly.  
Jace stepped right in front of him and tilted his head in the usual turian way. "Oh, come on. The winner gets a wish. Huh?" He whispered to him.

Samuel had only experienced Jace for one evening - and one night - but that was enough to guess what his wish could be. The lurking gaze only confirmed Samuel's assumption. In fact, Jace was literally aiming for another hot night with the elf, even a threesome, but he was professional enough to banish these thoughts and fantasies for now, because now they were about serious topics. Nevertheless he wanted to bet. And win, of course. But Samuel disappointed him – what had been expected in the end. But the Phoenix crew supported him.

"A bet, what? Of course we'll take it!" Patricia, of all people, suddenly shouted and received approval, from whomever else, from Teekoy and Keni.  
Samuel briefly closed his eyes.  
Jace smiled.  
"I stick to it, Atrix. I'm sure Varius will be happy to bet with you. _Alone_." Samuel said nevertheless, steadfastly resisting the turian's gaze.  
"Hmm, spoilsport. Last time you loved what I did to you." Jace just purred so softly that only Samuel could hear it.

The adept's gaze darkened, but he remained silent. _Hold back, it is unseemly to hit Atrix now_ , he warned himself in his thoughts. 

"Are you finished? Prepare teams of two!" Chazre called and stepped into the middle of the assembled 26 men.

Samuel turned to his crew once more and quickly divided them into pairs of two. Trox would run with Keni, Teekoy with Patricia, Varius with Caliria and he himself with Thantos. Shortly afterwards the starting signal was given the first three teams of two of the Resistance, the Paladin and the Phoenix spurred off and tackled the first obstacle, a high, steep climbing wall, which the turians in particular could easily climb because they used their claws like barbs. Thus Varius, Caliria and the first two runners of the Paladin were the first to reach the top of the platform before they jumped into the deep and landed in the sand basin. They moved like predators as they continued to sprint. The two fighters of the resistance followed the four turians with only a few seconds delay. They were also incredibly fast.

When the obstacle was clear, the next six fighters set off, including Trox and Keni and Jace with a chum. Keni was very agile, slipped once, but then arrived well on top of the platform. Trox had bigger problems because of his mass and lack of agility. It looked funny how the skinny quarian desperately tried to pull the massive krogan up who was cursing like an old sailor. When both had reached the top, Keni wisely let Trox go first. He jumped and left a real crater in the sand basin, into which Keni fell rudely. Lumpy she ran on with the krogan, already overtaken by the resistance fighters and Jace's soldiers. Keni and Trox were even overtaken by the third wave, where Thantos and Samuel took part. The latter stopped to make sure that Keni had not been injured. She appreciated this very much, but shouted to her commander to keep running, because otherwise they would lose. He caught up with Thantos very quickly. The two adepts moved so quickly and agilely that they overtook Jace and Serax by simply jumping over the shoulders of the turians after they had literally climbed up on them from behind.

"Hey, what the...!" Serax shouted in surprise as he ran on.  
"Wolfsbane doesn't seem to want to lose at any price." Jace laughed and accelerated.

Catching up with them was by no means a piece of cake, though. Samuel might not have been able to use his adept powers that he wouldn't have used anyway, even if he had had the chance, but this proved that even without them he was fast, agile and together with Thantos immensely efficient. They took the next hurdle, a second climbing wall with stone rungs and pulled each other up. The resistance fighters, whom they jumped past like cats, looked after them in bewilderment. 

"This is fun!" Thantos grinned. The drell obviously had fun.

In the meantime, all the teams of two were on the field and were hardly inferior to each other in anything. Keni and Trox were supported by Teekoy and Patricia, and in the meantime Tiberius had joined the race against all orders and ran like the wind across the field. When he spotted Samuel, he barked and rushed towards with waving tongue, tore Menetia Barbanis, the Paladin's cook, from her feet, who shortly afterwards picked herself up again in a curse and hoisted the obstacle like a wriggling fish to stop at the top, because now a shaky bridge was waiting for him. He raised his ears and whimpered. He wanted so much to go over to Samuel! 

Meanwhile Saraan and another resistance fighter stood behind the dog and wanted to scare him away, so that Tiberius had no choice but to shimmy whimpering across the suspension bridge. Surprisingly, he even made it, but stumbled on the last heel and crashed into Samuel's calf, which lost his balance, just at the moment when he wanted to lower down on a rope, but had waited because Varius and Caliria were still standing below. With a exclamation of surprise he fell a good four meters into the depth, Thantos could not hold him either. However, the adept fell reasonably soft, if one could call the breastplate and generally an armored turian soft. For he landed directly on Varius, who was also torn to the ground and hit the ground groaning, although he had the presence of mind to turn around and spread his arms to catch him. At the top one could see Tiberius' head appearing, looking down and barking, before he was caught by Thantos, who rappelled down.

Varius shook his head and stood up to look at his commander. "I knew you'd fall for me." He said amused.  
Samuel rolled his eyes. "Thanks for catching me." He growled and stood up.  
"Anytime, Commander." replied Varius, still amused.

Caliria was grinning, too. That would haunt him for weeks now, right? Samuel walked a few steps before he writhed and pulled a face. His left hand grabbed his ribs on the right side. 

Varius was immediately with him and looked at him. "Let me see."  
"I'm all right." Samuel said somewhat brusquely and wanted to continue, but flinched again. "Ouch."  
"Don't be so stubborn." Varius growled and pulled the elf off the track.

Thantos looked at his _paratan_ briefly, then he continued the obstacle course with Caliria. Other participants ran past them while Varius scanned Samuels side with his omnitool.

"Since when do you have a meditool?" Samuel asked.  
"Rigger, remember? I like to fiddle around with my stuff." Varius replied. "It's a slight contusion, nothing serious."  
He activated the medigel memory and tried to administer a dose to Samuel.  
"Don't waste medigel on this, Varius." Samuel then said.  
"Nothing is wasted on you. Just keep still." Said the turian in a soft voice.

Samuel did as he was told and kept still. A strange feeling was spreading inside him and it wasn't the medigel, but rather the fact that Varius was acting so gentle and caring as if they were... he glanced at him fleetingly and Varius returned his gaze, while the warmth emanating from the tool took the pain from Samuel's flank.

"Thanks for doing that." Samuel said softly.  
"I'd do anything for you." Varius whispered to him and looked at him seriously.

Embarrassed and confused, Samuel blinked at his rigger. It was not only the words themselves that confused Samuel, it was above all the lasting seriousness within them, and which lay above all in his rigger‘s gaze. He had never looked at him like that before. This strengthened the strange feeling in him even more. _By the gods, what was he doing here – focus!_

"Is everything okay?" A deep, soft voice asked. Saraan had stopped and approached them.  
"Yeah, it's nothing. Just a bruise." Samuel answered, looking at the angara.  
"Don't hurt yourself too much. I want to challenge you in close combat later." Said Saraan, smiling narrowly.  
Samuel hesitantly returned the smile. "I will take it easy."

Varius noticed the look of his commander, which he gave to the angara, no matter how fleeting the moment might have been and it didn't suit him at all. 

"Come on, let's go, we're losing time." Said Samuel, and inwardly reminded himself again: _focus!_

They now hurried towards the obstacles in a triple team, which was not unusual, since during the race the pairs sometimes separated, split up or changed. It was important that nobody ran alone, because some obstacles could be overcome better with a helping hand. Now Saraan as well as Varius and also Samuel could get a first impression of each other's skills. Varius and Samuel liked to know each other, Saraan could not judge either of them. The second in command of the resistance was very fast and very strong, as it soon turned out. The legs of angara were obviously perfect for sprints. Effortlessly he bounced over every tripping hazard and even on the ground he took the crawls with impressive speed and agility. 

Varius of course didn't acquiesce that, as turian he was just as fast and agile and followed the angara. Since Samuel was also a formidable competitor despite certain limitations, the race quickly grew into a competition for three and an exciting neck-and-neck race, with one of the three fighters taking turns to lead. Samuel seemed to lag behind at first, Saraan and Varius were damn fast. But he wouldn't let himself get left behind. He sprinted off and simply jumped onto Saraan's back, hooking his foot to his sturdy belt and pulling himself up by his shoulders. Then he bounced like an acrobat over the completely taken by surprise angara and jumped on Varius' shoulders, only to immediately jump again, performing a turn in the air, like a Shaolin fighter, in an almost dancing manner. Powerful and agile at the same time, he landed in squatting position, one hand supporting on the ground, gave the two behind him a quick glance and a wry, pert smile before continuing his sprint.

"By the stars!" The angara said breathlessly.  
"Yep, that's my Commander." Said Varius. 

Saraan looked after him with big amazed eyes and almost ran into Varius. Samuel waited at the next obstacle, a ladder to climb up and helped Varius and Saraan to get up. From there they had to climb over another suspension bridge made of ropes and wires. This time Samuel slipped and almost fell, but Saraan got hold of him and pulled him to him. Samuel thanked him and they climbed after Varius.

Most of the teams had already reached the last stage, the drone field. Caliria, Thantos, Jace, three of his crew members and four resistance fighters were just fighting their way through the drone field, dodging the laser shots. The hits were not dangerous but painful, as they quickly found out if they did not take cover quickly enough. 

By the time Varius, Samuel and Saraan arrived, most of them had already passed the field and disappeared behind the walls that separated the area. And now, instead of many targets, the drones had only three to focus on. Samuel took a deep breath, concentrated and was about to start running when his rigger caught him. 

"Wait." Varius said.

Confused, Samuel paused, because he was held by his arm and pulled back. Varius let go of him again, looked at the drones from a distance, activated his omnitool and started typing with nimble claws.

„You don't want to deact-..." Samuel couldn't even finish his sentence when there was a muffled hum as all the drones levitating, moving and standing in the field turned off their lights and stopped.

Serene as an elcor in a whirlpool, Varius lowered his arm with the omnitool on, and strolled past the other two, who looked confused and amazed, Saraan more than Samuel.

"Piece of steak." Said Varius, winked at Samuel and walked on.  
„It‘s _piece of cake_.“ Samuel corrected.  
„Whatever. Why do you humans even say that?“  
„Because… I have no idea. Just an idiom. Like _use your loaf_.“  
„How in the world should one use bread other than to eat?“ Varius wondered.

Saraan looked confused but then decided to add something that might be useful: „ah, it‘s like to say…“ some words followed, which neither Varius' nor Samuel's omnitool could translate. So the two of them looked at the angara without understanding, who raised his shoulders uncertainly: "or...not? I… I‘m confused.“

The three arrived last, but only a few moments after the stragglers of the paladin. Chazre came stomping towards them, his face expressing clear displeasure. It was Samuel, however, whom he approached and whom he addressed.

"You were supposed to dogde the drones and fight your way through the field like any other fighter, not short-circuit them.“ He ranted.  
Before Samuel could even think of formulating an answer, Varius stepped next to him, even stood a little in front of him, as if he wanted to protect him: "he is not responsible, I deactivated the drones, Sir.“

Chazre now frowned at the turian, Samuel raised an eyebrow, looked at his rigger while Saraan remained silent because he did not know what to say or do. The other soldiers, crew members and resistance fighters watched the scene silently. 

"Do that again and you will be expelled from the area." Chazre growled.  
"It was very clever though, Chazre. I've never seen anyone who could deactivate all drones so quickly." Unexpectedly, Saraan came to the turian‘s defense.  
"Hmph, whatever." Chazre turned to the others: "Rest a few minutes, then we'll gather on the battlefield!

While the group of fighters made their way back, past the obstacle course, Samuel turned to Varius once more.

"What was that all about? I can defend myself alone." He said.  
"I was just correcting a mistake. You don't always have to take on everything alone." Varius replied.  
Samuel sighed softly. "From now on, just stick to the rules."

About ten minutes later the group had gathered on the battlefield where Saraan was now instructing the participants. Virtually everyone present was good with firearms, some more, some less so. However, only very few of them were proficient in close combat weapons, such as the vibro blade, the krogan warhammer or the asari sword, or even the weapons used by the angara, although they were very rare. Admittedly it was not necessary. But here on Havarl, the probability of getting involved in close combat and brawl was a bit higher, because you often had to fight on very narrow and confusing terrain.

"So if your firearm is not enough for you to do more than strike with it, it is advisable to use a close combat weapon before you foolishly destroy what kills your enemies at a distance.“ Saraan said. 

He was in the middle of a circle formed by those present and paced up and down while explaining, carrying in one hand an impressive vibro blade style combat knife. The fighters were to meet again in pairs and spar with practice knives and practice fighting sticks. Saraan divided them and let angaran fighters practice with the crew members of the Phoenix and the Paladin. Those who did not have a resistance fighter as sparring partner trained with a partner of the other ship. Soon the sound of quarterstaffs striking each other was heard across the battlefield, accompanied by occasional battle cries from the fighters.

Saraan approached Samuel, two fighting sticks in his hands, of which he threw one to the elf. Skilfully he caught the staff and waited until the big angara stood before him. Samuel bowed in greeting, but this time looked Saraan in the eye. He would have to be on his guard not to be distracted too much by Saraan's soul mirrors, it crossed his mind. It was difficult to focus before when he heard his soothing soft and deep voice. Saraan also indicated a bow and took the quarterstaff in both hands. Samuel did the same.

"I take it that you do not need instruction with the quarterstaff." Said Saraan.  
"I will try to keep up." Samuel replied.

They both took a fighting pose and slowly began to circle and observe each other. The stalking and observing ended abruptly when Saraan made a first attack and confronted Samuel with a combo of blows, strikes and swings, which he executed upwards, but also downwards. Samuel blocked the first blows and felt the power behind them. The two quickly competed for the upper hand; Saraan had a clear advantage in terms of strength, while Samuel was more agile and evaded the blows. He quickly saw that Saraan was more than proficient with the staff. And Saraan also noticed that Samuel knew his way around a fighting stick and became familiar with it.

"Impressive, you fight well with the staff." Saraan said after a while.  
"Ha, yeah, but I wouldn't want you as my opponent either, you're much better." Samuel replied.  
"Tired already? Shall I take it easy on you?" Asked the angara, implying a cheeky smile.  
Samuel was happy to respond to this little provocation. He returned to fighting pose and nodded to Saraan: "show me what you've got.“

For a moment, Samuel had the impression that Saraan's beautiful sapphire blue cat eyes had lit up as he heard the call, before a lurking, concentrated expression came into the angara's face. They began to circle around anew. This time the wind whispered of another energy surrounding the two of them. Thantos almost instantly stopped training with his fighting partner, one of the resistance fighters, and turned to Samuel and Saraan to watch them. His sparring partner did the same. Jace also paused and watched the fight, and gradually more and more pairs of eyes began to fix on the two of them. 

The sticks hissed through the air and cut with a striking sound, wood cracked on wood, looks were exchanged, lurking, observing, waiting, concentrated, focused. Seconds full of concentration and seriousness - was it still just a sparring match or already a duel? What did the other one want to test, to know? When they weren't fighting, they crept around each other like two cats of prey, one considered step after the other. Saraan's movements were powerful, dignified, flowing, every movement of the elf seemed graceful and flowing as in dance.

Then Samuel made a lunge and attacked Saraan with a combo of punches he had obviously copied from Saraan a few minutes ago. The angara retreated, his facial expression betraying that he was surprised, yet he remained confident and parried the blows until he finally discovered a weakness in his opponent and, with a powerful swing, carried out sideways from the top to the bottom, rushed him hard off his feet. Groaning, the adept crashed to the ground and before he could even regain orientation, Saraan stood above him, holding one end of his quarterstaff at Samuel's throat. Panting, he remained lying and dismissed the idea of attacking again. They looked at each other, both out of breath, only with serious, neutral facial expressions. 

Then Samuel said: "You are....really good. Wow.“

Saraan's face became softer again. He pulled back his quarterstaff and held out a hand to Samuel to help him up. Samuel grabbed the hand and was pulled on his feet. Some of those who had watched the two of them applauded, Samuel heard Trox in the background saying: "now the boy has really gotten his ass kicked!“ _Sounds somehow satisfied, the old krogan_ , Samuel thought to himself.

"You... used one of my favorite combos to attack me. It took me a long time to execute it like that. You seem to have learned that within the last few minutes. Impressive." Saraan said.  
"Still, you're better. Thank you for showing me where my weaknesses are." Samuel replied and bowed respectfully.  
Saraan smiled as he watched Samuel's gesture and lowered his eyes embarrassed. "Your manner always confuses me." He said softly, and Samuel looked at him questioningly.  
"I'm sorry if I..." he said, somewhat unsettled.  
"You've done nothing wrong." Saraan interrupted him gently and put one hand on the other man's shoulder.

And there it was again, that moment when he wanted sink into those cat's eyes. _By the gods, these eyes, like two galaxies, so beautiful, so deep, so radiant, so blue like sapphires, like the ocean of Kahje._ This was a weakness he maybe would not overcome. Samuel felt that tingling in his stomach again, that warmth in his chest. And did not even notice how he looked at the angara.

"Is everything okay? You….you are staring as if my skin suddenly turned yellow." Saraan asked.  
It was Saraan's words that made him notice that he was staring, whereupon Samuel turned his gaze away in shame. "Excuse me." He murmured softly. „Uh, was that an angaran idiom?“  
Saraan smiled. „Kind of.“

Jace had meanwhile sneaked over to Varius, because he had noticed how his friend was once again busy killing the angaran lieutenant with his eyes. He stood next to him and crossed his arms in front of his chest before he gently nudged Varius with a shoulder. 

"Relax. Your sweetie has lost our nice bet anyway. Let's see what I wish for." He said softly.  
"He wasn't one of the betters." Said Varius.  
"I take his crew's participation as a commitment on his part." Jace's mandibles spread slightly as he grinned, exposing his pointy fangs. „And I have something in mind.“  
„Now what could that be?“ Varius asked in a wryly way.

Chazre's voice echoed across the square again, drawing attention. He announced that in half an hour the jungle wafare would be performed. The forces will conduct a bilateral, combined arms exercise and live fire training in conjunction with possible melee exercises. During this iteration, the combined force will focus on drone-borne operations, with complex bilateral movements against an opposing force. He did not yet comment on the mission's goal. The respective leaders should first put together their team from all three groups.

"When we train together like this, we develop the kind of proficiency that is required for three different units, from two different militaries, with several martial backgrounds to come together and operate as one.“ Saraan added to Chazre's remarks.

Now that it was time to put the team together, the Paladin leader strolled towards Saraan and Samuel, followed by Varius. Tiberius came running from the side where the building stood. The dachshund was bored by now and wanted something to do. Before the planning began, however, Atrix addressed something else to Samuel.

"That was a nice stick-performance just now, Wolfsbane." Said Jace.  
"Well, thanks." Samuel replied curtly and looked at the turian.  
"You lost the bet, by the way. And..." Jace saw that Samuel was already raising a protest "before you object: your crew made a bet. And as a good commander, you count yourself among them, don‘t you?"

Samuel glanced at the other with a slightly stern look and kept silent. 

Jace tilted his head: "Come on, don't be such a spoilsport.“  
Samuel suppressed an all too loud sigh. "And what do you want?" He asked, minimally annoyed.  
"I'll let you know." Jace replied with triumphant composure.

Saraan looked at Samuel and Jace with an uncomprehending expression. Varius was silent. Samuel looked at him and Jace alternately for a moment. He was not comfortable with the thought of having to fulfill a wish of Jace's. He was reminded of that one night, which was clearly too extreme. He better quickly repressed the memory, because he could nearly anticipate what was going on in Jace's mind at that moment. He didn't have to have the ability of a prothean to read thoughts. 

"Whatever, Atrix." He replied coolly. "Let's get the teams together." 

Three teams of two groups of eight and one group of ten were formed. The group of ten was immediately sent into the forest. They would form the defense, together with six drones - Varius was assigned directly by Chazre to the defenders, so that he would not think of short-circuiting the drones again. He was followed by Thantos and Keni. Annoyed, Chazre allowed Tiberius to run with her, at his own risk and on the responsibility of the quarian. Of course the animal received no weapon and no vest, there was no dachshund size anyway.

The order for the two teams of eight was to take the base in the forest area, i.e. to take out all enemies or to secure an object there and bring it safely out of the forest. The teams put on black vests and helmets - the defenders wore blue stripes to the black of the vests - everyone was given a training weapon, a specially converted Equalizer SMG, a gun that could perfectly penetrate and destroy body shields and that was what it was all about. Disadvantage: you definitely had to go into closed combat, but in the jungle you had little range anyway. The vests were equipped with visible shields, which went out immediately when the Equalizer SMG hit, which meant for the person that he had been shot.

"Although the gun will only hit the shields, a second and third potential hit is still painful. This is intentional, so that the person who did not notice that his shield was destroyed will notice it in the end.“ Chazre explained and looked around. "You will definitely notice it."

The defenders were given twenty minutes to take position, the attacking teams the time to confer. While Jace rather gave the instructions and orders, Samuel listened to the suggestions and procedures of the three resistance fighters and took their advice. Caliria and Teekoy were in Jace's team, Patricia stayed with Samuel. The other three were from the Paladin. Saraan was one of the defenders and had disappeared into the forest.

After a tactical briefing they started. The two attacking teams were supposed to start in the west and east. Chazre gave a start signal by shooting a flare into the air, which went out in the dark sky, then the two teams disappeared in the dense, dark forest. Nothing happened for the first few minutes. Apart from the sounds that filled the jungle outside the training area, nothing was heard. Samuel sneaked ahead and secured with Khenan, one of the three resistance fighters, and led his team deeper into the jungle. Then he clenched a fist and angled his arm upwards, the military sign for _"Stop!“_ Something had moved to the left in front of him. Khenan waited for a moment, then he crept on and looked. Before his gun barrel, a turian appeared, Serax Nardus, who was part of Jace's team. He stood out because his head was pitch black and his face was painted blood red. It soon became apparent that Jace had taken a similar route. The teams split up again and tried to encircle the base from east and west. 

The first two drones could be detected by the reflection of their metal corpora. They could easily be eliminated by shooting at them, but that would alarm the defenders. Samuel, after being advised by Khenan and Veraana, a female angaran fighter, to stay under cover, decided to bypass the drones, although this also meant a detour. He trusted that the resistance fighters in particular knew what to do. No sooner had they taken the route than they heard shots fired on the opposite side.

Jace had apparently decided not to bypass the drones. But that was an advantage for his team now, because all attention was initially focused on the West. Samuel continued to lead his team past two more drones without them noticing anything. The last two drones, however, detected Patricia and Sentoria Falgius, a female turian of the Paladin, fired immediately and were successfully deactivated. However, the defenders now probably knew their approximate position. But Samuel's teams had the advantage of being much closer to the base and moving faster because they had been able to miss the first four drones. Before the drones could get to the base, the team ran, heading for the base. Samuel watched the resistance fighters and kept up with them. The team made excellent progress. But the tide seemed to turn within firing range of the defenders.

They jumped for cover as some of the defenders began to fire from the embrasures. Samuel spotted Keni at one of the windows, took accurate aim, fired and hit. The quarian staggered back and her shield, which had glowed around her vest, went out. Samuel paused briefly. _Even if it was just an exercise, it was a bad feeling to shoot at his allies._ He quickly refocused his mind and jumped out of his cover, taking advantage of the moment when the window was uncovered to push forward. He was followed by the others. Sentoria, who was running behind him, was hit, staggered and stopped before she was heard cursing and sat down. Samuel jumped behind a rock and barely escaped a volley. Patricia arrived beside him. Her shield was still glowing. Samuel crawled to the edge of the rock to peer. He could see one of the entrances to the base. Was it unguarded? He instructed Patricia to watch the gunner, who had apparently been targeting her. In a cease-fire, he ran and jackknived to get under the stone porch of the building next to the door. 

Patricia kept firing upwards and finally managed to hit the shooter - Trox. Several times. Trox was one of those who did not notice they were hit at first. When Patricia jumped out from behind the rock and tried to hurry to Samuel, her own shield suddenly shattered and she stopped in astonishment. Macen Vendrian, fighter and armory and weapon chief and well acquainted with just about every firearm, had caught her. He had been lurking and waiting behind a tree. He was about to concentrate on the elf when Veraana appeared and engaged him in close combat. Samuel watched the scenario, then spun around because he heard something behind him. Suddenly, Thantos stood behind him. Samuel fired immediately and Thantos' shield went out. Then he stopped.

"You didn't intentionally give me the opportunity to shoot you right now, did you?" He asked quietly.  
Thantos just smiled. 

Samuel returned the smile, shook his head gently, patted his _shaday‘s_ shoulder and entered the building, up the stairs. He knew that Thantos hated such maneuvers. Loud and violent was not his cup of tea, neither was Samuels. They were both assassins. Shadows. And shadows never made a sound. For them, the motto was: _the moment you see me, it is too late for you._. 

Except for Patricia and Sentoria, Samuel's entire team, along with Jace's team, four of whom were taken out of play, managed to defeat the outer defenders and three drones. Inside, however, another five opponents were still lurking and the three drones were still buzzing around. The resistance fighters proceeded first silently, then with brute force. Jace and his team relied on attack as defense and engaged in a constant firefight, but obviously had a lot of fun. In between, Samuel saw Trox sitting on the ground laughing and whooping. The krogan also had his fun, even though he had dropped out.

Samuel and Khenan crept on, while the rest shot, further up, to the heart of the base, where the item to be taken was. They passed Keni, who was sitting on the ground next to Tiberius, stroking the dog. Tiberius was happy to see Samuel and followed him to the next room. Samuel stopped in a dark space while Khenan continued to sneak and tried to make the animal understand that it should go back. Tiberius sat down in front of him and looked at him attentively and Samuel made the mistake of going down on one knee and patting the dog, which suddenly grabbed the gun, Samuel held very loosely in his hand and ran away. Samuel gave a quiet surprised gasp, but had no chance to chase the dog, because suddenly a shadow came out of the dark and aimed the Equalizer SMG directly at his face. Samuel rose in a slow movement. Varius stood in front of him and grinned slightly.

"Well, well." He did not shoot yet, but slowly drove Samuel backwards until his back hit the wall. He put the pistol directly on the vest.  
"Tiberius is a crafty little devil.“ Samuel said and smiled thinly.  
Varius nodded. "Mmm, very useful, the little one."

From the passage leading up another staircase, shots came from above. Samuel and Varius both looked in this direction for a moment but Samuel immediately seized the moment and snatched the pistol from Varius, which he now pressed against the turian's vest. He turned his head and looked at him with stoic composure. Samuel pulled the trigger and the turian's shield went out.

"You killed me. A pity." Said Varius and smiled.  
"Hopefully I‘ll never have to do that. You should have been more determined, sniper." Samuel replied.  
"It is enough that I‘m determined in other matters."

Samuel gently raised an eyebrow when he heard this answer, then he broke away from the wall and jumped up the stairs. The top floor consisted of a kind of control center with an elevation on the north wall, on which the standard of Aya stood. The goal was almost reached, only the two defenders who guarded the standard had to be eliminated. One of them was Saraan and getting past him was more than a small feat. Also the other defender, a turian of the Paladin, did not intend to hand out the standard so easy. So Khenan and Samuel retreated once more from the range of fire by jumping for cover behind a console. They quickly agreed on a diversionary tactic, Khenan was to see to it that he kept both defenders busy while Samuel, who was getting fire protection, grabbed the standard. Another firefight broke out, ricochets bouncing off the metal walls and consoles, hitting the fighters, but the shields held. Khenan was hit several times in the head, but the helmet prevented most damage. 

Samuel finally managed to reach the standard and grabbed it before trying to escape towards the window. However, he saw Khenan getting more and more distressed, his shield would fall soon if he did not help him. If he helped, he ran the risk of losing the standard and his own shield. More shots were fired, Khenan retreated behind a console and entrenched himself. Saraan followed him, Professor Septimus Tibion, the turian, took aim at Samuel again. 

Varius, who was sitting at the bottom of the wall, listened to the battle that was taking place upstairs and wondered how long it would take until peace would finally return up there. Offensive fighting with firearms was really not Wolfsbane's strength. He preferred to fight silently, taking out his opponents without them really knowing what was happening to them. A deadly, fast, efficient assassin. And forbidden sexy. However he wasn‘t very pleased when he once dropped the odd: „rogues do it from behind“. What was wrong about that? Wolfsbane liked it from behind. And from the front. And turian tongues anyway. Varius chuckled slightly. Oh dear, the manoeuvre wasn't even finished and he was already thinking about sex with his commander again. but that wasn't surprising either, was it? Besides, that was just a stupid exercise anyway. If the whole thing had run under real conditions, he would of course be absolutely concentrated. Because anything else would be potentially fatal.

About ten minutes full of sex fantasies in the turian‘s head and wild shooting in the upper floors later finally silence returned and Varius decided to go and see what the situation was like. He found Saraan, whose shield was deactivated, and Septimus, whose shield was also inactive, standing in the room, while Samuel was kneeling and examining an angara sitting on the floor bleeding from a wound on his head. Khenan assured him that he was fine and seemed confused by the care of an alien. Septimus walked up to them and squatted beside Samuel when the adept asked him to tend to the wound. He was the Paladin's medical officer, equipped to treat others, which he did. When Samuel rose again, Saraan stepped up to him and smiled at him. Varius immediately suppressed any feeling of jealousy and remained professional. For now. 

"Looks like the attackers won, huh?" He said.  
"We're not out yet, but after Khenan is taken care of, we'll retire." Samuel answered and looked at Varius.  
"Down there, drones and the last active defenders are still waiting for you, Commander. It will be interesting to take the corridors and stairs without getting shot." Said Varius.  
"Who says we're taking the doors?" Samuel tilted his head slightly and leaned against the wall next to a window. Varius smiled slightly.

While Khenan was being cared for by Septimus Tibion, Samuel informed Jace Atrix that the standard was secured and that everyone should now retreat. The adept and the resistance fighter actually took the window and disappeared into the jungle. The three remaining fighters looked after them. Saraan smiled in a way that Varius, when he noticed the smile, did not like much. And he did not like the words of the angara either. Actually, he did not like the whole angara.

"A truly remarkable man." Saraan said softly.  
„The first alien that actually behaved friendly to me". Khenan said after thanking Septimus. 

Varius was silent and left the room. In the end, the remaining three members of Jace's team, including him, and Samuel and the three resistance fighters had managed to capture the standard with the flag of Aya, and bring it out of the forest, By that it was declared that the maneuver and training day over.


	31. Chapter 23: Voeld Tensions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A blizzard on Voeld forces the team of Samuel, Jace, Saraan and Varius to hold out at a remnant site as it gets colder and a foreign shuttle is spotted.

The first Jungle Warfair training was followed by further training missions on other planets in the following days. With an interval of one day's rest each, several exercises took place at locations on Elaaden and on Voeld where training became a hard challenge for the aliens. The angara had become accustomed and adapted to the outside temperatures during their evolution. Fifteen years after Pathfinder Ryder reactivated the vault, the planet had begun to warm up slowly, but snow and ice still prevailed with an iron hand and there were still places that could not be entered without protective equipment. One of the most sought-after professions on Voeld was ice flying and the pilots called themselves ice hunter; the ice of the planet was mined and flown out to planets like Eos and Elaaden and the Nexus was also supplied with it. The Alliance outpost that had once been founded together with the Angara, Taerve Uni, flourished. Now there were not only research facilities and military buildings, but also residential areas where it was quite comfortable to live. An entertainment district had also been established and a much frequented bar called "Frost Tavetaan".

The training mission on Voeld with fewer participants, namely Jace, Saraan, Khenan, Veraana, Varius, Patricia, Septimus and Samuel, was to proceed differently than originally planned. A heavy snowstorm separated the two vehicles with which the eight fighters were traveling from each other and the mission was about to be abandoned because it was now more vital to find shelter. Varius, who was sitting in the P-Nomad together with Samuel, Jace and Saraan, was able to spot a remnant site on the map and navigated Samuel, who was at the wheel. Jace tried to contact the other team to give them the coordinates of the place where they were now retreating. No one responded, so the only hope was that the other team would have the same idea and drive to the site.

Samuel parked the P-Nomad under one of the ice and snow-covered ancient monoliths that protruded forward like a huge roof. About 15 years ago, the Andromeda Initiative had discovered a synthetic species of autonomous robots with about ten different subspecies, which they had called The Remnants. They had almost always lived near sites like this one, but after the war against the Kett, who had once shown a very high interest in the remnants, the activity of the synthetic beings had decreased more and more. However this had not affected the revival of the respective planets within the galaxy. Scientists suspected that even without visible activity, the remnants still had a strong influence on all aspects of a planet. With very, very few exceptions, most of the remnants were hostile, which meant that any team that ventured into such ruins would have to prepare for battle. Luckily, this site no longer seemed to be inhabited by active remnants.

Samuel, Jace, Saraan and Varius did not leave the P-Nomad at all. It was simply too cold outside with -30 degrees, even in the thermal armor they were wearing. The turians might still be able to withstand the cold, as well as Saraan, but Samuel would have serious health problems after a short time. So they tried to make themselves comfortable while Saraan continued to try to contact the other team. Samuel actually prayed in silence this soon would be over, because if anything was more unpleasant than being trapped in a blizzard in the Voeld ice desert, it was being trapped in a blizzard in the Voeld ice desert, in a vehicle with Jace, Varius and Saraan. 

Samuel leaned back in the driver's seat and stared through the windshield into the snowy landscape. Silently, he watched the snowstorm, while in the back seats Saraan's voice resounded, trying again and again to reach Khenan and Veraana. Even now the really deep soft voice of the angara was pleasant, soothing, melodic, still so fascinating, mysterious with its slight accent. How could a voice be so beautiful? Gods, now was not the time for dreams and enthusiasm. And suddenly there were crackling choppy sentences of a male voice from Saraan's omnitool:

_”Team 1.... listen? .... on the way..... Snowstorm! We're trying to listen to ....?” ___

__"Something here is interfering with communication." Saraan said.  
"Could be the giant snowstorm out there." Varius said dryly.  
"No, our instruments are usually noz affected by such weather conditions." Saraan replied, while Jace watched him input something into his angaran omnitool, which glowed blue. "We were able to successfully fix this problem a long time ago." The lieutenant proudly added.  
"Phenomenal." Varius replied unimpressed and took a stern sideways glance from Samuel.  
"Could the ruins cause this disturbance? Could it be radiation of some kind?" Asked the elf.  
"It is not impossible." Said Saraan. "I'll keep trying to relay our coordinates to Khenan."_ _

__The other three tried the same thing, but without success. The signal was jammed._ _

__"Somehow this pattern seems familiar." Varius muttered after a while. "I have the feeling that whatever is interfering with the tools is also getting stronger."  
"The electromagnetic radiation here is intense." Said Jace, looking at his omnitool.  
"Then maybe it's the ruins after all." Saraan said.  
"Could the ruins be emitting those special kind of interference fields?" Samuel asked.  
"I wouldn't know, but..." Saraan was interrupted by Varius.  
"Area Jammer!" He said. "I know that pattern. "There's clearly something interfering with the communication. Or someone. And not just communication."  
"Is this something like white noise?" Samuel asked.  
"Yes, advanced and effecting a much bigger area, the field affects every form of technology." He looked at Samuel: "we should get the vehicle out of here."  
"If we don't, it won't start again?" Asked Jace and got confirmation from Varius._ _

__Samuel looked out the windshield. The blizzard had not become milder, on the contrary. Here under the monolith they were still somewhat protected from the harsh weather, if they drove into the open field now, it could be dangerous._ _

__"Out there we may have signal again, but we are exposed to the blizzard in its full force.” He thought about it.  
"Yes, but if we stay here, it is possible that everything here will fail, even the heat unit!” Said Varius.  
"What? Damn it." Samuel growled. _ _

__So he had the risk to take. He tried to launch the P-Nomad. The vehicle began to stutter and twitch, reminding him of an old car from Earth, even though its technology was completely different. Like an old car from Earth, however, it did not start. Again and again one could feel how the drive tried to get going and failed._ _

__"Come on!" Said Samuel and tried again and again._ _

__The displays on the console went out suddenly, only to light up again in a reddish light. Next to the symbol for reserve energy a timer lit up and indicated 30 minutes._ _

__"What does it mean?" Asked Jace, who had leaned forward between the front seats.  
"From now on, only the most necessary programs such as the heat unit and oxygen supply will run. We still have power for about 30 minutes, then the P-Nomad will shut down completely." Said Varius. “We will still be able to breathe, don’t worry about that.”_ _

__"But it means we will be turian icicles." Said Jace.  
"Well, not us - yet. Turians can last more than an hour." Varius replied.  
"Angara can withstand these temperatures for some time, too in the worst case." Said Saraan._ _

__Samuel closed his eyes briefly, but kept silent, asking: "how long do you think the blizzard will last, Saraan?  
"I estimate two or three hours." Replied the angara._ _

__Samuel ignored the glances of the two turians who were looking at him. He guessed what they were thinking: when turians and angara would start to shiver he would be frozen to death. He remained silent and listened to the howling of the wind that raged outside around the monolith and the vehicle._ _

__"I will try to shield the P-Nomad from the disturbances." Said Varius and began typing again on his omnitool. "It will still take time."  
"I guess we'll have to take our time." Samuel replied. _ _

__Silence fell inside the vehicle. Only the soft clicking of Varius' claws on the virtual keyboard and the intermittent beeping that could be heard from his omnitool joined the howling of the storm outside. Samuel watched the display tick down every minute. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and buried himself deeper into the driver's seat. The armor he was wearing kept out much of the freezing cold, but was not designed to keep him warm permanently, but rather to provide the wearer with the best possible support in battle in icy conditions, and temporary warmth, not for hours. Time passed and the cold increased. All four looked up when a new beep sounded, this time coming from the P-Nomad console: _> >Energy reserve at 20%<<_. There were about five minutes left. Samuel looked at Varius._ _

__"I guess nobody can help you, can they?" He asked._ _

__Varius, as a rigger, had a very special omnitool with remote control deck, which allowed him to control vehicles, drones and other technology in the hardware field. If he couldn't get the P-Nomad working again, then probably no one in here could._ _

__"Unless one of the tools has signature improvements, signal amplifiers, engine modifications, anti-zapper or other advanced mods, rather no." Replied the turian.  
Samuel thought. "Could Saraan's tool help? It can at least take the interference from the snowstorm, maybe you can use it as an amplifier."  
"I'll be happy to assist if I can!" Said Saraan._ _

__"This probably won't work." Replied to Varius. "Because the technologies are probably incompatible."  
"Assumption is not certainty. Try it!" Samuel said.  
"But it is possible that I will have to disassemble the angaran omnitool and destroy it." Said Varius._ _

__Samuel looked at Saraan. He looked back. Another loud beep went through the vehicle and a moment later the console went out. The reserve was used up. From now on it would be very, very unpleasant. Samuel, who had been staring at the console again, felt someone tapping him gently on the shoulder. When he turned around, Saraan handed him his omnitool. Samuel looked at him and took the device and nodded at him._ _

__"I don't want you to freeze to death, Samuel." Saraan suddenly said quietly._ _

__Samuel hesitated as he noticed the worried expression in Saraan's shimmering cat eyes and swallowed before forcing himself to smile faintly. “Thank you.”  
So the angara had noticed why Samuel had not spoken up earlier. Of course he had noticed. Saraan might have a calm nature, but he could read others like a book and was extremely attentive and very perceptive. He had probably never studied humans and their physiology in depth before, but he had probably drawn his conclusions. Samuel was a human being, whether or not he belonged to the meta-race Elf, and was in greater danger than the other three. _ _

__"My dear commander will not freeze to death." Said Varius, and took the omnitool that Samuel was holding out to him to get started on combining the technologies and hardware._ _

__The cold increased noticeably in the vehicle. Neither Saraan nor the two turians seemed to have much of a problem at first, but Samuel, who was also rather slim and not a massively muscular fighter, began to freeze. He tried not to let it show when the first hour passed by tenaciously, but Varius was well aware of this, even though he worked concentrated on the equipment._ _

__"Need some warmth?" He asked.  
"I'm fine, thanks." Samuel replied._ _

__He didn't want Varius to touch him as familiarly as he usually did, under no circumstances and especially not in Saraan's presence. At that moment Samuel realized that the angara was more important to him than he had thought. Regardless of this they might be stuck at the moment but that did not mean that one could become private or even intimate. Varius seemed to see it differently. Saraan was present, but he didn't give a damn about him and Jace knew about them anyway._ _

__"You are trembling." Varius noticed.  
"Happens when it is so cold outside." Samuel replied dryly. "Concentrate on getting the device to work."_ _

__He couldn't see Varius' eye twisting because he was still watching the landscape through the windshield, hoping the second vehicle would appear or the blizzard would die down, but he could guess the look of his rigger. The P-Nomad was a reconnaissance vehicle, well equipped to take almost impossible climbs and armored against almost any type of bullet. But no one had thought of something like thermal blankets. After an hour it had become really cold and the snow outside seemed to be unrelenting. Samuel tried to distract himself from the cold by using his omnitool to retrieve data about the local site. Eventually, he wrapped his arms around himself and buried himself as deep as he could into the seat again, trying to suppress the shivering which was nearly impossible by now and watching his breath begin to condense in the colder air._ _

__"Y-you think you c-can get that thing u-up and running soon?" Samuel asked some time later.  
"The connections are too different, I have to re-solder some contacts." Replied Varius and pulled a thin cable from the omnitool. _ _

__Metallic smell of burning soon filled the air as Varius started to work with his portable repair kit. However, he did not seem to be able to concentrate well, because he kept looking at Samuel, who sat trembling in the driver's seat. He wanted to pull him to his side and try to keep him warm, but getting the omnitool working again was just as important. Saraan suddenly leaned forward and gave Samuel his _rofjinn_ , the poncho-like garment he wore over his upper body._ _

__"Here, put this on." He said._ _

__Samuel didn't let him say it twice. He pulled the _rofjinn_ over his armor and felt at least warm up a little. Quietly he thanked Saraan, who nodded at him. He seemed to watch him all the time. Was he so worried about him? Samuel pulled the _rofjinn_ up to his nose and huddled together. He could smell the angara on the fabric. He smelled somehow tart and sweet at the same time, like leather and metal from the armor Saraan was wearing. Samuel also thought he could perceive forest and wood. And was there a breath of angaran oil? A pleasant composition of smells, he thought. _ _

__Again half an hour passed and the cold became even more biting. The _rofjinn_ and the last reserves of warmth of Samuel's armor hardly warmed him. He shivered and froze miserably and kept looking at Varius. _Arashu, please make sure that Varius can at least send a signal!_ He prayed silently. And then it was as if the Goddess of Motherhood and Protection had heard his plea. The now rather adventurous-looking device lit up and emitted a beeping sound._ _

__"At last!" Cried Varius and sorted that Jace was scared out of his sleep.  
"Did you make it?" The other asked turian.  
"Yes, I can now at least send a distress signal that can't be disturbed anymore. Pray that the other team is aware of it."  
"Good news. I hope the other team is doing well." Samuel said.  
"If they are, I hope they will receive the signal." Said Varius._ _

__The rigger suddenly grabbed Samuel and tried to pull him towards him, whereupon the elf looked at him confused._ _

__"No arguments." Said Varius. "You‘re gonna be frozen solid soon. Come here."_ _

__Samuel would probably have resisted under all other circumstances to be pulled from his seat by Varius, into an embrace, but by now he was so hypothermic that he did not offer much resistance. Varius only hesitated for a moment when he looked at _rofjinn_. He would prefer to give the thing back to Saraan, because it smelled far too much like the angara, but for this one time he had to accept it. So he let Samuel keep the _rofjinn_ and wrapped his arms tightly around the elf after he had pulled him to himself. He had taken off his upper body armour beforehand and stowed it in the footwell, otherwise there would be absolutely no point in warming the other body. Varius also rubbed his arms over Samuel's upper body and tried to warm him this way while the elf lay with him. The seats and the entire interior of the P-Nomad were designed to accommodate four krogans, so it was not difficult to find room for two in one seat, although not very comfortable. Samuel crouched trembling and dug his fingers into the angara's clothing, lying close to Varius. As he looked up, his gaze met that of the angara. His abdomen cramped gently as he saw the expression in the beautiful eyes. Saraan looked somehow ... sad. Hurt? Longing? Jealous? He couldn't say for sure and maybe he was just imagining all of this. Samuel lowered his eyes, he felt tired. So tired. With his head resting on Varius' chest he could hear the heartbeat of the turian very faintly. The natural breastplate, which was much smaller and thinner than the armor the turian normally wore, shielded the sound of the heart almost completely. Nevertheless, he thought he could perceive that it beat faster. _ _

__The stroking movements of Varius’ arms became slower, more tender, lulling. There was no question that Varius enjoyed having Samuel with him despite the adverse circumstances. The smell of the angara emanating from his garment that Samuel was wearing was a temporarily acceptable evil as long as he could hold Samuel. He leaned his chin on the white-haired man's head and closed his eyes, before opening them again after a few minutes and taking a look at the omnitool. The omnitool was constantly sending out the signal, hoping that the other team would arrive soon, unless the blizzard caused even more trouble. Varius noticed that Samuel had fallen asleep. Although this would have been pleasant under other - warmer - circumstances, it was dangerous here. So he squeezed and pinched him gently, so that he woke up again and murmured softly._ _

__"Better stay awake, Commander." Varius spoke softly.  
"I...am so... tired." Murmured Samuel.  
"I know. But you need to stay awake." Said Varius, stroking over Samuel's head._ _

__Saraan had leaned back, his arms crossed in front of his chest and watched them furtively. They were so familiar with each other. He recognized in the turian's voice that he was probably more than just a crew member and felt more for Samuel. Also his way of holding him indicated this. Were they a couple now? It seemed so. Saraan was very uncomfortable with this thought, but he couldn't say exactly why. He just didn't like the sight of it, but he decided to remain silent. Slowly he too became very cold, his _rofjinn_ would certainly have warmed him well, but he left it to Samuel, who needed it more. Somehow he felt responsible for the human with the pointed ears and the snow-white hair and those eyes which were shimmering like Elaaden diamonds. He would have warmed him, too if he had sat next to him. The idea of holding Samuel in his arms like the turian did, triggered an interplay of uncertainty and bliss in him and he thought about it for a long time while the storm outside howled._ _

___Gigantic formations of stone and metal rose above a sea of flames, burning buildings, fleeing figures, lamenting, screaming voices in the distance and nearby. The downfall of a civilization, then the face of an unknown angara appeared, eyes wide in terror, consumed by flames: "they are coming!” His voice, a scream and a whisper at the same time. ____ _

____Samuel was startled from his sleep. He had no longer been able to resist the tiredness and had fallen asleep again. Varius had also dozed off and had not noticed how Samuel flinched and looked around disoriented for a few seconds until a big gloved hand lay on his forearm and he looked into Saraan‘s face._ _ _ _

____"Just a nightmare." Whispered Samuel.  
The bulges above Saran's eyes, which would be human eyebrows, rose. "Oh."  
"Nothing out of the ordinary, I...do often have nightmares." Samuel added.  
“How..often?”  
“Sometimes...every night.” Samuel answered silently.  
“I’m sorry for that.” Saraan said.  
“You don’t have to. …” The strange thing about this nightmare was that it was different than usual. What could it mean?  
“Is...there any way to, mh...cure you from this nightmares?” Saraan asked again.  
“I don’t know. I am also trying to find that out.”_ _ _ _

____Saraan nodded softly and remained silent, although he seemed to have something to say. Samuel could see his own breath. It had become so cold in here. He trembled, although the body of Varius warmed him a little. It just wasn't enough anymore. Saraan's hand wandered to Samuel’s hand. He squeezed it and looked at Samuel before the cat's eyes moved to the windshield. Samuel looked at his hand in that of the angara and a strange feeling came over him._ _ _ _

____"The storm is finally letting up." Said the angara quietly and looked at Samuel once more: "we'll be out of here soon."_ _ _ _

____Samuel nodded. Did he want to cheer him up? Saraan's voice sounded even more pleasant when he spoke in a more quiet way, Samuel noted. Hearing him whisper caused a tingling sensation in his stomach. He would like to tell him what a beautiful voice he had, but he did not feel it was appropriate. The two turians seemed to be asleep. Whether from exhaustion, or because they were simply resting, Samuel could not tell, but it was better to wake them. Varius still held him loosely in his arms._ _ _ _

____"Wake Atrix, please." He said to Saraan, while releasing his hand from Saraan's and shaking Varius awake.  
Dazed, he came to and looked at the elf. "Hmm, hey, my...." he oriented himself quickly enough to realize that they were not alone. "Commander." Was therefore the shortened version._ _ _ _

____Not a second later, the rigger's omnitool, enhanced by angaran technology, reported that someone wanted to contact him. Varius activated the tool and a deep voice with the distinctive light accent that many angaran people had was heard. It was Khenan who called out for the missing team._ _ _ _

____"Are you okay? How are the others?" Samuel asked immediately.  
"Yes, we are all fine, according to the circumstances, the strength of your crew member Ms. Potter saved them from further harm." Khenan replied._ _ _ _

____He informed the team that the blizzard had caused a serious malfunction in the navigation system, which had taken them completely off the route. The storm had finally forced them to seek shelter in an abandoned former kett shelter about an hour away from the coordinates where the others were located. The team would make their way to Techiix waiting for the other team. Varius, while Samuel was talking to Khenan, observed the surroundings outside and discovered something. He immediately tapped Samuel and pointed to what he saw. In the snow flurry, an object had moved, coming from the sky and lowered to the ground, like a shuttle that had landed in the distance._ _ _ _

____"Be careful, Mr Siraad - all of you." Samuel ended the conversation and watched the horizon._ _ _ _

____He too had seen that object and pointed it out to the two sitting in the back. As soon as the blizzard subsided, it was decided to see who had landed. This meant that Samuel wanted to check in case he had not been frozen by then. Varius had been able to restore communication but the cold was still a problem. So Varius set about getting the rest of the technology working again but had trouble at first because the interference was simply too strong. Again and again he looked at Samuel, who could no longer suppress the quiver and whose teeth were chattering. He could not repair and warm him up at the same time._ _ _ _

____Saraan saw how Samuel's lips gradually turned blue. And since he was not familiar with human anatomy, he asked in an almost childlike way: "is it good if your lips turn blue?”_ _ _ _

____The two turians then looked at Samuel, who in turn looked at Saraan and, trembling, answered, holding his arms around him and holding the _rofjinn_ tightly, "n-no...i-it's n-no....not...".  
" _Mabul._ " Varius growled softly and wanted to reach for Samuel again. "Come here, you'll freeze."  
But Samuel resisted. "Just get the fucking generator running again!" It was just too cold for pleasantries._ _ _ _

____Saraan watched the two of them and became increasingly concerned. Then he decided to do what had been on his mind for more than an hour. He maneuvered the top of the seat he was sitting on backwards to reach a reclining position, then gently plucked the _rofjinn_ that lay around Samuel to get his attention, whereupon the elf looked at him. Saraan bent forward, grabbed Samuel under his arms and simply pulled him between the two front seats to his back seat before he turned a little to the side so that Samuel could lie down with him, watched by two perplexed-looking turians. Varius would probably have dropped the mandibles from his face, if it had been possible. No less confused, Samuel looked at the angara before he understood why Saraan had done this. _ _ _ _

____"I'll keep you warm as long as Varius tries to get the generator working." He said softly._ _ _ _

____Although it was incredibly cold, Saraan, probably unknowingly, made sure that his heart, which had begun to beat more slowly because of the cold, started to increase in frequency again. He didn't know what to think. Or even what to say about it._ _ _ _

____"You... you don't have to..." He murmured softly.  
"Yes. I do. You mustn't freeze, Samuel." Said the angara softly, so softly, and looked at him so earnestly. "I take care of you." _ _ _ _

____Samuel's face turned flaming red. At least it felt that way. He was still hesitant which Saraan was aware of and so once again took away the decision by placing the _rofjinn_ tighly around the other man's slender body before pulling him tight with the arm that was at the top. He placed the other arm above Samuel's head, which might be a little uncomfortable for himself, but so he could give him the feeling of not being too constricted. Samuel lay there like a stiff fish and was not sure if this really happened. His heart had picked up a tremendous speed and was beating violently in his chest. He prayed to the gods that Saraan would not notice this and if he did, that he would not...._ _ _ _

____"Your heart is beating so fast. I...hope this is a good sign." Saraan spoke softly. There was still concern in the ocean-deep, soft voice.  
"That's....n-nothing to worry about." Samuel spoke with his throat closed._ _ _ _

____Samuel wanted to sink somewhere in the icy ground. At least: he would certainly get warm again quickly. His cheeks were glowing, he felt so ashamed of his reaction and at the same time so confused. Gods, he was confused and insecure as never before. He did not dare move even a millimeter while Saraan held him down and warmed him with his big body. He perceived the scent of the angara, sweetish, woody, somewhat heavy, more intense present, because they had been sitting in this vehicle for a while. The smell reminded him somehow of the forests of Aya. Samuel closed his eyes and saw the purple green shimmer of the forest in front of him, perceived his aura. The image shattered for a few seconds as he felt Saraan gently stroke his shoulder and he opened his eyes again. Once only, before he stopped. Maybe it was just an ordinary movement, but it had felt like a caress._ _ _ _

____Dead silence had returned in the vehicle, only the quiet hissing of the soldering iron, the tapping of claws on an omnitool and the howling of the wind outside could be heard. Again Samuel felt sleepy, but he was slowly getting warmer. So much for his physical shape. How it looked deep inside his soul was another chapter. He was still barely moving, too afraid, and didn't even know why he felt that stupid fear in the first place. His heart was still beating much too fast and he hardly dared to breathe. That had not been the case with Varius before. Was it because he had become much more intimate with him several times before and had crossed many borders long ago? Varius gradually behaved towards him as if they were a couple and treated him like that. This also triggered many confusing feelings in Samuel - he did not want Varius to be like that with him, but could do little about it. And now lying in Saraan's arms, even if he only wanted to keep him warm, confused him even more. Perhaps it helped if he remained as objective as possible and simply assumed that Saraan just wanted to keep him warm because it was very cold and he was not even half as resistant to cold as angara or turians._ _ _ _

____Jace would have bet the Paladin that Varius was just about to explode inside, although he did not let anything get outside and would now do everything possible to get the heating unit running again as quickly as possible. Every second that Samuel lay in Saraan's arms was too much. This fool in love. After all, hopefully it would get warm again soon._ _ _ _

______"Does it work up there?" Jace asked, to end the already uncomfortable silence.  
"I'm on it." Varius replied monotonously.  
"Do you need help?"  
"No, I don't."_ _

____Jace decided to shut his mandibles instead. Varius was completely in work mode. And in “don’t talk to me or I will kill you”-mode. The only thing that would pull him out of it now would be if the two of them started fooling around with each other, it crossed Jace's mind. But then Varius would probably jump backwards and rip the dear angaran lieutenant to shreds with his claws. He personally didn't want to do that because it would mean a lot of explanation or cover-up work. And if Vary wanted to get Saraan out of the way, he better did not do it here, and certainly not when Wolfsbane was involved. Jace leaned forward and watched Varius at work between the two front seats. The rigger was impressively quick with all the tools at his disposal, typing like a madman on his modified omnitool. Jace took a closer look at Varius. The predaceous eyes blazed, the turian's mandibles twitched and trembled and opened and closed incessantly. Varius was extremely tensed up, to want to involve him in a conversation now or to massage his tensed mandibles would be like holding a stun gun in the neck of an explosives specialist who had just defused a bomb. Jace continued to keep a low profile and watched his friend._ _ _ _

____Saraan held Samuel in his arms and realized that it was the first time in his whole life that he wanted an alien to be well. He remembered the event at Elaaden when Samuel collapsed. He would never forget that bloodcurdling scream, how he had spit up blood, never forget how he had felt himself. He then was so confused that an alien had rescued him at the risk of his own life and so full of sheer fear for the life of this alien. He had become really panicky, had wanted to save him at all costs, he had been afraid for him. And now he was afraid for Samuel again. He didn't know much about human physiology, in fact his knowledge was limited to very few areas, especially how to inflict the best possible injuries and pain on a human and other aliens. But he did not want to hurt Samuel, he could never do that! Never? Saraan faltered. In the past, he would never have thought like that even in his dreams. This white-haired man with the pointed ears had changed so much in him. He would never have believed that he would once be happy, that he would be excited to see an alien again. He would never have believed that he would want to protect an alien. And now Samuel lay in his arms, exactly as he had imagined before, yes, as he had wished for it, and so many feelings came over him at the same time. Yes...he felt happy having Samuel in his arms._ _ _ _

____"Are you warmer?" Saraan asked quietly and only got a lazy, barely audible "mhm" from Samuel, who nodded weakly._ _ _ _

____Samuel was no longer trembling, which probably meant that he was a little better, but he himself was lying very uncomfortably on his left arm. If he put it under Samuel, it would be better. He hesitated, but then he pushed his arm past the crook of the white-haired man's neck, drawing him closer to himself, bridging the last distance. He breathed softly, for now his heart was beating fast, too. Saraan closed his eyes and concentrated only on the body he was holding. It was ...very pleasant. And as the angara that he was, he spoke this out._ _ _ _

____"It is...a pleasant feeling to hold you in your arms." He whispered._ _ _ _

____Samuel's mind awoke at these words and he opened his eyes. A shiver pervaded his body. Hesitantly and very shyly, he raised his hand and wanted to place it on the hand of Saraan, whose arm was under his head, but then he paused, for he could not overcome himself. If they had been alone, things might have been different. By the gods, what might have happened if he had been alone with Saraan stuck in the P-Nomad? Again he felt a tingling sensation within._ _ _ _

____The sound of an aggressively buzzing electric arc sounded several times, followed by a crackling sound and then a jolt went through the vehicle. A moment later the console lit up and the lights came back on. The vehicle seemed to be intact again._ _ _ _

____"You did it, Talorian!" Jace whooped._ _ _ _

____Varius had torn a wire with his claws the moment he heard Saraan's whispered words, which had provided a transmission voltage, whereupon the electrical system of the vehicle received a shock and finally started up again. So it had been more of a coincidence, but a happy one - which, however, he could not say about himself. He was not happy at all and would now have a good mind to throw Saraan out of the vehicle and drive away. Varius bit his catches together and controlled his rage as he had done so often in so many years. Jace's cry of joy did not change the fact that he was boiling with hate inside. This dirty angara had better took his hands off his _campara_ quickly before he’d cut them off. Shit, he already thought of Samuel as his mate. _ _ _ _

____"Well done, Varius." Said Samuel, who sat up slowly._ _ _ _

____Varius did not answer Samuel's praise, but just nodded. The heat unit now just had to get back up to speed as quickly as possible and the damn blizzard outside would finally ease off, then they could leave the vehicle temporarily and he didn't care what was out there waiting for them and if it was an architect's nest. The main thing was to get out and away from this angara. Twenty minutes of an immense test of patience for Varius later, the vehicle was ready to move again. The rigger did not lose another second and maneuvered the P-Nomad away from the ruins, out of the area of the jamming signal, towards an icy rock nearby. He was glad when he suggested that they should see what kind of shuttle it was, that Samuel agreed with him and not Saraan, who still had concerns about Samuel's health._ _ _ _

____"My Commander has weathered far worse than a little cold." Said Varius coolly before he left the vehicle._ _ _ _

____Saraan watched him in slight confusion for a moment before he too left the vehicle with Samuel and Jace. The latter knew how livi his friend was and that he urgently needed to get some fresh ice air. This could really be quite interesting and entertaining here, he thought. In the end there might be wet work to be done after all. Here in the icy climes of Voeld, a body would only be found after it had already frozen to a block of ice and no one would be able to reconstruct how and when the victim had died. He knew his way around well._ _ _ _


	32. Chapter 24: What Voeld Reveals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team of four discovers a strange excavation site occupied by the Roeshaar and later in Techiix Samuel confronts Varius about his accusations against Saraan - and is overwhelmed by unwanted emotions.

The team left the P-Nomad, which had now been parked safely out of range of the jammer‘s control. The blizzard was over, but it was still extremely cold, and intensive observation of the area would not be possible, at least not for Samuel, who began to freeze again a few minutes later. And although he was freezing, he walked towards Saraan and tried to pull the _rofjinn_ from his upper body, because he assumed that Saraan would want him back now.

"Here, thank you very much. You will certainly need it again now." Said Samuel.  
Saraan looked at him: "what about you? You are freezing. Keep it."  
"Are you sure?" Samuel asked.

He would not mind continuing to wear the warm garment, but according to his personal attitude it would be presumptuous to keep it. Saraan seemed to suspect it. He took the _rofjinn_ , but put it back on Samuel and then put his hands on the shoulders of the elf and looked at him with gentleness.

"Please keep it. You need it more than I do." Said the angara.  
"I....thank you. I'll give it back as soon as we get to Techiix." Samuel replied quietly and nodded.

Saraan gave him a narrow but honest smile that reached his blue cat eyes, let go of him and walked on. Samuel stopped for a moment longer and listened into himself, trying to figure out the emotion which was like a gentle swirl of mist after someone had passed by. It was a strange, confusing feeling and at the same time pleasant. He lost himself so much in that one moment that he only noticed Varius when he passed him and bumped into him to get him out of his thoughts.

"Let's take a look at the LZ." He said somewhat broody.

Samuel looked at him for a moment with some consternation before he followed. The team cautiously headed towards the suspected zone where the shuttle had landed and Varius sent a small scout drone ahead, which scouted the area outside the jammer area to detect potential enemies if they didn't disguise themselves by biotics or technology or simply very well optically. Using its omnitool, Varius was able to pinpoint the zone from a great height while they hid at the edge of the remnant site and waited for the drone to return. In the meantime, the rigger had been able to get a rough idea of the surroundings: there was actually a landing zone in a valley, or rather a depression, behind the remnant site, various temporary buildings and, what Saraan found interesting, something like an excavation site.

"Probably another remnant site, what else.“ Said Jace.  
"This site certainly seems to have something that is interesting." Samuel said.  
"Three shuttles, two ground vehicles, five buildings. Let's see who's waiting for us there." Said Varius and put the tiny drone back in its place.

When the team reached the remnant site, the omnitools immediately started malfunctioning again, so it was decided to temporarily disable them, not least because Varius was concerned that the closer they came to the center of the wail, the more severe the damage the omnitools could take. The four of them crept through the remnant site towards the valley and carefully peered over a snowy rock. What they saw amazed them all equally.

Angara, clearly recognizable as Roeshaar by their armor, but also those who did not wear armor, worked in a hollow, which they had obviously shovelled free, in front of a construct that, on closer inspection, could be recognized as a ruin. Saraan narrowed his eyes and zoomed closer to the action with the help of his targeting scanner in his visor, which he wore in front of his left eye and which always glowed in a faint turquoise. The others who owned binoculars also studied the obvious. Saraan recognized immediately that these were ruins that did not belong to those of the remnants.

"I have seen such things on Elaaden before, back then in that cave." He said, fascinated. "The structure of the outer formations, the façade was carved into rock? There is rock under the snow. It must be from before the remnants, an archaeological sensation!"

"This is all very interesting, but we should get out of here and report it." Said Jace.

Saraan, meanwhile, had apparently spotted someone and moved closer to one of the angara below to take a closer look at it. Suddenly he gasped softly and an expression of horror spread across his narrowly shaped face with the prominent cheekbones. The three others looked at him as he stared down.

"This is Jossah!" He said, adding hastily after being given questioning looks: "a...a cousin of mine! He works for the Roeshaar?"

The three of them were silent at first, because nobody could say who of the angara down there was now a relative of Saraan. Saraan's family was large and even if the cousin had been present at the dinner, Samuel couldn't remember what he was sorry about. Saraan suddenly seemed to make an effort to go down into the valley, so Samuel stood in his way and stopped him by holding him down and looking at him. At that moment, small pieces of ice were trickling down the rock and into the hollow. Some of the loose particles rolled on and bounced against the boot of an angara who raised his head and peered up.

"Saraan, calm down, please! We can't go down there now." He said and pushed him back with gentle force. In doing so, he felt once again how strong the big angara was.

"I have recorded everything." Said Varius, who had recorded the entire surroundings and also those present down there via his visor. He couldn't send the recordings immediately because of the area jammer, but he had saved the images.

Samuel nodded at Varius and looked at Saraan again. "Talk to him when he gets home." He said.  
"He no longer lives on Aya, but here on Voeld." Saraan took a deep breath and closed his eyes before looking at Samuel again. "You are right. As you have been right so many times before."

" _Mabul_ , take cover at once!" Jace hissed and drew his gun.

The others also drew their weapons and hid themselves as three angara in the armour of the Roeshaar came up a staircase, Isharay and other guns ready and looking around. Samuel had climbed a raised rock in no time at all and now crouched there like a cat, one of the asari swords in hand, ready to jump. Jace had hidden in a crevice and with considerable composure was just screwing the silencer onto his pistol, Varius and Saraan each kneeling behind a rock. They all knew: if the Roeshaar discovered them, they would try to kill them. The three angara looked around, turned their helmeted heads, and stopped. They stood right in front of Saraan's hiding place and could discover him at any moment. Suddenly Jace, from his hiding place, took aim at the neck of one of the angara and shot him. The shot went unheard and the angara sank to the ground dead. The other two whirled around and wanted to shoot, but saw no one. Samuel cast a silent curse and jumped off. He bounced silently through the air like an owl at night and landed crouched behind the two angara. Immediately he rose and knocked one of them down. At the same moment Varius shot the remaining angara.

The white snow was colored by the blood that came from the bullet and slash wounds of the dead. Samuel looked at the three corpses while Saraan jumped out of his hiding place and knelt with them. He pulled off their helmets and gasped in horror.

"They were almost children!" His voice sounded fragile.

Samuel's bowels clenched when he heard this. He sunk his head and clenched one hand in a fist. Then he loosened it again, lifted it up and put it in the other hand in front of his chest. He closed his eyes and began to speak softly.

"Kalahira, mistress of inscrutable depths, I ask forgiveness. Guide these souls safely across your dark waters into eternity, that they may find peace.“ A drell prayer, as there were many.

Samuel knew that the following nights were no longer about restful sleep. The nightmares would come again now, Kalahira's punishment for him, he thought. Saraan raised his eyes and looked up at Samuel. Tears were in his eyes. Samuel returned his gaze. He was sorry for what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Saraan." He breathed.  
Saraan lowered his eyes again and looked at the three bodies. "No. They chose their own fate. They chose death." He spoke softly and his voice sounded fragile again.

Samuel hesitated, but then he approached Saraan and put a hand on his shoulder. Saraan did not push it away, no, he raised his hand and put it on the elf's. Samuel squeezed gently at that moment. So they stood for a few moments while Jace and Varius stood in the background and watched the scene.

Jace seemed to be somehow fascinated by Samuel's prayer and said silently to Varius, "Your pretty little human is a believer?“  
Varius nodded. "He prays to the Drell Gods." He answered, but then joined the other two.

"We must leave before they realize that the three are not coming back." He said.

Saraan nodded and rose slowly, wiping tears from his eyes. Once more he looked at the corpses, which he had dignifiedly placed together with Samuel, then he turned around and without another word went back in the direction where the ruins were and the P-Nomad. Samuel looked after him for a moment, then followed him, and Jace and Varius followed him. They could move away from the valley without being disturbed and only when they were back at the remnant site did they speak to each other again at normal volume.

"So now the Roeshaar are making like archaeologists." Mumbled Jace.  
"I'd like to know what they're digging up." Samuel said.  
"Nothing to do with the remnants. It was obviously from another era and maybe from another culture." Saraan said.

He seemed to have calmed down again. But what it looked like inside him could not be told. Samuel walked beside him. Saraan did not look at him, his face was expressionless, but in his eyes was melancholy. Samuel was silent, but Saraan seemed to know what was going through the elf's mind.

"It did not have to be. But it... could not have been avoided." He said softly.  
"It would've been beautifully avoided if you had kept your head." Varius suddenly said.  
Saraan looked at him with a distraught look: "Should I have cut off the head of one of the three and kept it?" He asked.  
"No, it is an idiom, Saraan. It means to remain calm." Samuel said quickly.  
"A member of my family is with the Roeshaar, how could I remain calm?" Said Saraan, looking more excited again.  
"Seems to run in the family an affinity with such organizations." Varius growled, and Saraan looked at him confused.  
Samuel, on the other hand, gave his rigger a warning look, which he ignored.  
"What...you mean?" Saraan asked.  
"You know very well, after all you are a former Roekaar. Or maybe an undercover Roeshaar?"

Jace and Samuel looked at Varius, but he had looked at Saraan and looked at him disparagingly. Samuel's face darkened a little. What in the names of the gods was this? Jace, on the other hand, watched intently as it went on.

Saraan's expression meandered between confusion and uncertainty. He finally expressed the thought he suspected in the turian's mind: "I don't belong to the Roekaar anymore, if that's what you're asking. And I do not follow the Roeshaar either.“ He said calmly. "Which, unfortunately, I cannot say about my cousin."

Varius strolled a few steps towards him and walked a semicircle around him. Saraan watched him without moving.

"And how can we be sure that your statement is true? Because of you, we were almost discovered." He stopped in front of the angara. "Perhaps you are one of them after all, and you are simply a good actor."

Now Saraan got angry and he planted himself in front of Varius, who was only a few centimeters smaller than the angara. "I decided to support the Alliance because I saw that not all aliens are evil." He said, and his deep voice sounded strong and thunderous as he added, "I am no Roeshaar!"  
Varius was highly unimpressed. "I do not believe a word you say." He said gloomily and opened the mandibles aggressively.

The two of them flashed their eyes at each other, creating a tension, so that a fly that would have flown between their two heads would probably have instantly evaporated. The unsaid was stuck in the air, anger puffed up, smelling of escalation, until Samuel intervened and pushed them away from each other.

"That's enough! Stop it, both of you!" He said sternly.

Jace just watched the spectacle. It wasn't hard to read between the lines at that moment. Actually, Varius was not concerned with the affiliation of the angara, but with something completely different. Or rather: someone. Samuel looked at them both.

"No one is simply accused here, understand?" He fixed Varius, then he turned to everyone. "We will investigate this and send the information we have gathered to the Resistance and the Alliance, but I suggest that we first go back to Techiix.“

Actually, this was not a suggestion, but an order which, surprisingly, all three complied with, not least because they wanted to get out of the cold at last – and some away from each other. So they hurried back to the P-Nomad and were happy to be inside the vehicle, even if it meant sitting together again in a very small space for a while. Samuel speeded the vehicle through the landscape dominated by snow and ice and eternal cold, bouncing over small hills several times, causing little joy to his vehicle occupants, but he did not care. Anyone who now felt that he had to criticize his driving style was allowed to walk. This way, they arrived at the outpost relatively quickly after all and were able to avoid each other temporarily in the end.

Varius met Patricia and Septimus in the daar Techiix and went with them to the merchant kiosk. Samuel, Jace and Saraan met in the office of the administrator of Techiix and gave him and the Resistance an operational report of what happened at the remnant sites, which was immediately forwarded to the Resistance base in the East and then to Aya. Saraan announced that he would soon travel again to this excavation site, with fighters.

"You have the support of the Phoenix, Lieutenant." Said Samuel looking at Saraan.  
"My team will also be at your disposal." Said Jace.  
Saraan nodded at them both.

Later, after they left the office, the angara turned to him again. "I appreciate your support, Samuel. I was hoping you might join me."  
"I will go with you, Saraan." Samuel replied.  
Saraan sighed softly and lowered his eyes. "I have a favor to ask of you. Come with me when I go to see Jossah. He ... must see that there are aliens who are not hostile. And you. . . You're the best person for it."  
Samuel implied a slight smirk when he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest: "So I am to walk on a leash as a tame alien."  
Saraan's eyes widened for a moment and he shook his head decidedly: "oh, no, I didn't mean it like that, I just wanted to say...". Confused, he looked at Samuel, whose expression seemed amused. "Was that a... of course." Embarrassed, he rubbed his neck and stepped from one leg to the other, a soft laughter was heard. "Of course it was a joke. Yes." He cleared his throat. "What is a leash?" He asked.  
Samuel smiled more broadly. Saraan's behavior was sometimes so droll. "Not so important." Then he got more serious again: "I'll come with you to your cousin, Saraan, just tell me when and where."  
"Thank you, Samuel. Thank you... that means a lot to me." Saraan replied and a hesitant smile flitted across his slightly bluish lips, which did not reach his eyes this time.

Samuel looked at him. Saraan hid well how much what had happened behind the ruins affected him. He did not want to talk to him about it anymore. Perhaps he would do so at another time.

"I have some things to do. I'll contact you, Samuel, as soon as I know when the operation is taking place. And once I've located Jossah."

After Saraan had disappeared inside the y-shaped interior of the facility, Samuel traversed the facility until he arrived at the hangar, where Varius, who was working on the P-Nomad at the time, was located as suspected. Jace and Patricia stood with him, helped him or watched.

He nodded at Patricia and then addressed his rigger: "Varius, come with me, we have something to discuss.“ His voice sounded cool and testified that he would not tolerate any delay.

Jace furtively glanced at his friend while Samuel was already walking away, towards the left exit of the facility.

"My goodness, what have you done now?" Patricia asked.  
"Nothing at all," Varius said briefly before looking at Jace: "Hey, he doesn't call me Talorian when he's angry anymore.“ He murmured.  
"Seems you‘re making progress." Jace replied.  
But then they both heard Samuel shouting, "Talorian, will you hurry up?"  
„Hm.“ Varius said.  
"Hang on, his resistance has long since crumbled." Jace whispered.  
"I know, I won't give up." Varius replied, before he joined Samuel.

Patricia looked at Jace: "what has he done now?"  
Jace looked at the woman: "do you like drama?"  
Patricia's ears pricked up. "Yes!?"  
Jace grabbed one of the tools from the toolbox and continued the work Varius had started: "help me and I'll tell you what happened."  
Patricia didn't let him tell her twice. And Jace had fun dishing up a love drama at its finest.

Samuel left Techiix and placed himself under one of the radiant heaters that were everywhere to keep warm those angara who were outside on guard duty. There was no one standing under this radiant heater, and no one else was within earshot, which was better for the scheduled conversation.

"Almost cozy here." Said Varius.  
Samuel did not really feel like joking or flirting. He looked at the turian in a very serious way. "That was a lousy move back at the ruins. I don't want to hear any more accusations out of the blue, is that clear?" He said.

"Out of the blue? There's a chance I could be right." Varius replied "Since when are you so quick to trust someone, Commander?" Samuel was silent and Varius continued: "Gain trust, only to strike when one least expects it. Our dear lieutenant probably knows this very well. After all, he has a perfect opportunity to practice: you, since you trust as easily as a child.“

"I do not!" Samuel replied. "And your theory is nonsensical."  
Varius tilted his head slightly: "Is it? You trust a former Roekaar. And possibly you are running blindly into your own ruin. But I will not let it come to that. The sooner this guy has a bullet in his head, the better."

Samuel approached Varius, grabbed him by the collar of his armour when he heard these words.

"Dare to raise your gun against him for no reason..." He rumbled threateningly, but then seemed to hesitate.  
"And what then? Will you kill me then?" Varius asked calmly.  
"What on earth is wrong with you, Varius?" Samuel hissed softly.  
"You are completely blinded by him. Perhaps my suspicions are correct. But you do not want to see it, we cannot afford to be biased!" The turian replied.  
„Shit, you are just …!“

Samuel stared at him for a few silent milliseconds, wondering if he should slap him, but then managed to control his own emotions. Temporarily at least. In a calmer, cooler voice he said, "pull yourself the hell together," and added hesitantly, but no less sharply, "and...leave any emotions the hell out of it!“

Varius then looked Samuel deeply into his eyes and grasped his wrists, which he loosened from the collar of his armour, but kept holding them tight to put his hands on his chest. "If he becomes a danger, I will finish him."  
"You will do no such thing!" Said Samuel, pulling his wrists from the other's grip.  
"Yes, I will. I will protect you from him if I have to." Answered Varius. "No matter what it takes."  
"I can defend myself perfectly well, I need your expertise, but not your personal protection." Growled the elf. "Use your mind and not your totally confused heart. Stop that nonsense once and for all, Varius, my patience is very limited!"

Varius narrowed his eyes, but remained silent.

"We are done here." Said Samuel coldly.

He wanted to leave the radiant heater to go back to the facility, for him everything was said. But not for Varius. He didn't care that they were at the largest outpost of the angara on the coldest planet in the galaxy, he stopped Samuel from leaving, pulled him back and pushed him against the rocky wall. He immediately felt the other one tense up and wanting to fight back after staggering backwards, but struggling with himself at the same moment he heard Varius' words.

" _Necor elinus min_ \- don't leave me." Whispering Varius softly. "Please."  
„Damn, what in the gods names do you want?" Samuel asked flustered.  
"You, of course." The other replied softly.  
"You behave yourself, we're not on the Phoenix." Samuel snorted, only realizing what he had said afterward.  
Varius leaned a little closer to him and asked amusedly: "Oh, would you consider closer physical contact with me if we were on the Phoenix, Commander?“  
Samuel swallowed and actually turned slightly red. "No. Now let go." He spoke in shame and lowered his eyes.

 _That sweet reaction_ , Varius thought, another hint that he was about to capture him. He could read in Samuel's behaviour that his resistance to him had weakened. Not long now and he would perhaps finally give in. He softly rubbed his forehead against Samuel's cheek while closing his eyes and absorbing the smell of the human being. He still felt the smell of the angara on Samuel, even after he had returned the _rofjinn_ , and that made him growl softly. So by rubbing, he left his mark again and snuggled closely to the other's body.

"Don't do that." Murmured Samuel softly, wanted to loosen up before Varius forced him to look at him by placing his claws on the cheeks of the elf.  
"Your resistance is weakening, my dear. Easy to scent."  
"I am not your dear! Damn, stop this love drama. I..." Samuel made a face, "I can't handle this."

He realized he was shaking. Not from the cold, he knew that and Varius knew that too. Damn, what had become of him? An idiot completely confused by feelings, who found it increasingly difficult to resist the advances of his chief engineer. He sensed exactly how this confusion, this chaos in him was gaining more and more power and he did not know how to deal with it or how to resist. He did not want these feelings! They felt so...strange, so forced. So different from the feelings he had to Saraan, although he should not be distracted and confused by them either. But they were there. And Varius knew that and dug deeper and deeper, tore down the barriers more and more and left him less and less opportunity to escape.

"I know that you like me. And I wonder why you resist me so." Varius whispered.

He hated when Varius was like this. Spoke like this. His voice was attractive. He, without doubt, was attractive. Samuel lowered his eyes, turned his head away to escape Varius' claws who moved his nose tenderly over Samuel's temple to his chin and leaned his forehead sideways against the elf's, before he turned Samuel's face towards him again, their lips only millimeters apart, almost touching.

Desperation and resignation began to blaze inside him, consuming the resistance he was maintaining at that moment. He felt an almost unbearable tension building up inside. His throat tightened, sheer panic, very dull, waving in his chest, while he realized that he was jumping between the option to flee and kiss Varius who seemed to be completely composed, waiting like a patient predator, while Samuel tried to maintain his usual composure.

"Stubborn sweet Commander." Said Varius with his flanging voice in a tone that echoed and vibrated deep inside Samuel, giving him goose bumps.

A hot stream flowed through him as Varius closed this last distance and put his lips on Samuels to give him a kiss of unknown tenderness, which tore Samuel even more into the maelstrom of confusing emotions and panic. Not the often rough, very direct approach, it was this tenderness that tore him apart so much. He released the kiss immediately, his body trembled and his voice became fragile.

"Shit, Varius, no... bad idea!" He gasped  
"An excellent idea. Too bad we didn't go into a room. I'd have eaten you up by now." Purred Varius, who continued the kiss.

Samuel finally began to return the kiss trembling. Why did he do this, why? Fuck, that was bad, very bad! He didn't want that at all! He felt as if a fire was gradually scorching his innermost being, leaving an unknown fear behind that drove him to cling to anything, any thought, his discipline, meditation, his being an assassin, even being a _kouday_ , so as not to break down completely. He felt he was losing his grip, as if he were on thin ice and breaking into a deep lake. Varius seemed to perceive this very close, for he pulled him into an embrace and stroked him in the same way as he kissed him. Once more Samuel released this intimacy by turning his head to the side and lowering it softly panting. Varius held him in his arms and still seemed to be the calm itself.

"I will not let him take you away from me." He said. Although Varius spoke softly, his tone revealed his determination.  
"What the hell are you talking about? We are not together!" Said Samuel with fragile voice.  
"I'm working on it." Said Varius calmly. „And it seems I‘m making progress, my sweet Commander.“  
„Fuck, stop calling me that, you idiot..!“ His voice was merely a whisper.

This was not how he had imagined the outcome of this conversation. He had to get out of here. Immediately. If they hadn't been on Voeld, he would have gone for a long, long walk now. Unfortunately, this was not possible here, yet he tore himself away from Varius, who let him go and watched him go out into the cold to stay there for a few moments. Samuel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. _In Kalahira’s name, calm down, you are behaving like a pubescent moron. This is beneath you!_ He called himself to order and when he spoke again, his voice was more composed.

"Take care of the P-Nomad, I will discuss the further procedure regarding the Roeshaar. We stay here as long as the Resistance needs us or until there are new instructions from the Nexus." Without looking at Varius again he left the place by the radiant heater and walked back to the plant on shaky legs.

He returned to the hangar, informed Patricia that they would stay here in Techiix for the time being until new instructions from the Nexus or the Resistance arrived and also contacted the Phoenix to bring them up to date. He was tired, endlessly tired, but he wouldn't get much sleep. And if he did, he would wake up from nightmares. Nobody here in Techiix had to see that. So he decided to meditate a little after being told that there was nothing but waiting at the moment. The Resistance was already investigating the activities of the Roeshaar behind the remnant ruins, he would be informed as soon as his team's expertise was needed.

So Samuel went to the habitation area of the complex, the _arataan_ , the hostel here in Techiix, was completely occupied as always. Actually, it had never had a free room, but for a little mediation he didn't need a room of his own. Just a little spot. He found that too, in a deserted corner, after wandering through Techiix for about half an hour, like a restless ghost, often haunted by looks he was used to. Probably this time so many eyes were looking at him like that, because he looked as if he had been through three nights. Okay, actually, that was the case.

Saraan came rushing to him about an hour later. He looked as if he had searched for him everywhere and became more and more desperate during his search. When he finally found him, he seemed relieved for a moment.

"I have tracked down my cousin!" He sounded excited, but it didn't escape him how exhausted Samuel looked, sitting cross-legged on the floor and managing to meditate for half an hour. "I...know you are tired and frozen, I can see it in your face," he began, "but I would like to ask you to come with me. It is important..."  
"Give me the coordinates, we'll go there." Samuel said softly.

Saraan paused, then stepped towards the smaller man who slowly rose. "You coming with me?" He asked.  
Samuel nodded. "Yes, I told you I would come with you. Though I‘m not sure if the P-Nomad is ready again."  
There was a grateful, wait, loving expression in his eyes that caused a tingling sensation deep within Samuels body. "No hesitation. Thank you, Samuel."

The two of them went to the other side of the complex, into the hangar where the Resistance cruisers were located and also, among other things, the P-Nomad, on which Varius was just carrying out final tests. He stood next to the vehicle and typed something into his omnitool, querying data on the P-Nomad. Saraan had said on the way into the hangar that if the P-Nomad needed repairs or a recharge, one of the cruisers could be used. He had also informed Samuel that Jossah was most likely to be alone at the moment, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Samuel stepped next to Varius and inquired about the condition of the vehicle. When Varius informed him that the electronics were still not running completely reliable due to the massive interference field, Saraan immediately set out to organize one of the small cruisers.

Turians had no such distinctive facial expressions as humans, asari or angara because of their horn-like plates all over their face and mandibles, which is why they were not able to express their emotions in the way the said species could. But it was really not difficult – at least for Samuel – to recgonize how little happy Varius was about Saraan's presence. He considered whether he should admonish his jealous rigger, but he decided that it was better to remain silent.

"Do you need help?" Varius asked.  
"No. We'll meet with Saraan's cousin - and settle this-…." _in a threesome_ Samuel wanted to say, but decided to say: „alone.“ While tapping on his omnitool.

He did not want to use this term in connection with Varius again and certainly not when Jace was around.

"You're going alone with a Roekaar to a Roeshaar that might have buddies? A bit risky, isn't it?" Varius spoke quieter this time.  
"Call him Roekaar again and I'll tell Trox to fold you up and eject into space." He warned softly, without looking at Varius.  
"You will not. You would miss me far too much." Varius spread his mandibles to a kinky grin.  
"Shut your trap." Samuel snorted.  
"Be careful." Varius whispered to him.

Samuel barely nodded and finally Saraan returned to them. "I could get a small cruiser, let's hurry."  
Samuel started to move and Saraan wanted to follow him immediately, but it was Varius' words that held him back a moment longer: "if anything happens to him, I will cut your blue eyes out of your head.“

The angara stared at the turian, thrown into an alternation of shock and anger, and he clenched a hand to fist as if he wanted to beat Varius. He did not do so, but only spoke in a low, dark, slightly trembling voice: "Nothing will happen to him, I will not allow it.“

Quickly he saw that he moved away from the rigger, because otherwise he might not have been able to resist the temptation to beat him up. He caught up with Samuel and led him to one of the small cruisers, which were equipped for a maximum of four men. The cruiser was designed for fast reconnaissance and like all other cruisers it was able to fly at a low altitude, which shortened the travel time enormously. In the end, it had been better to use the aircraft that left the hangar shortly after the two had boarded and rose into the icy air of Voeld. Saraan had entered the coordinates and followed the route as quickly as possible.

Crumbling resistance


	33. Chapter 25: Deepest Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saraan reveals a secret to Samuel and puts his trust to the test.

Despite the relatively high speed, it took a good three-quarters of an hour for Saraan and Samuel to reach the target coordinates; on the ground it would probably have taken them twice or three times as long. The map of the area Samuel had called up told him that they were in the north of Voeld, near the Northern Holding Site, a former kett occupation base where many angara were held before they were taken. The base had been abandoned for years after the kett had disappeared, but had now been converted into a kind of temporary settlement. A very well secured, but hardly manned settlement with a high wall around. In the north massive snow-covered rock walls shielded the site. Officially, members of the Resistance lived there, who were stationed on Voeld for a certain period of time, but if Saraan's cousin lived there and belonged to the Roeshaar, this information was perhaps incorrect. 

"Chazre knows that this settlement belongs to the Roeshaar and that is not the only one." Saraan said. "But he lets them go, because he sympathizes with them."  
"You mean, it's crawling with Roeshaar in there?" Samuel asked worried.  
"It is rarely fully staffed, people only meet there occasionally for larger meetings or to plan operations." Saraan replied, "Weapons and other goods are also stored there."  
"How do you know all this?" Samuel looked at the angara who was looking out the windshield of the cruiser.  
Saraan lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment. "I... didn't tell you the whole truth." He spoke softly.

An ugly feeling, a burning sensation, was easily felt in Samuel after hearing Saraan's words. The voice from the past, the voice of paranoia, spoke in his mind: _you should never have trusted a stranger!_ But he drove the voice back and waited for Saraan to continue speaking.

"I ...I am a double agent. I am a member of the Resistance, but I also work for the Roeshaar to get information to weaken them. Chazre knows nothing about this. Jolaza Sho, the consul and her allies are informed. They have persuaded me to accept this task." Saraan looked at Samuel, who had become even paler and was sitting stiff in his seat.

 _Thank the gods that Varius and Jace were not here_ , it went through Samuel's mind. Especially not Varius. He would probably have tried to kill Saraan by now at the latest. He himself felt betrayed, exposed and somehow disappointed and hurt. But now he suppressed all this and showed hardly any emotion to the outside world. 

"So you knew that your cousin was one of the Roeshaar?" He asked.  
"No. I really didn't know that. I don't want anyone in my family to be one of them. They're fanatics, like the Gloryseekers. Driven by self-destruction, they'll die of their own free will, no matter what. Jossah doesn't know what he's doing." Saraan replied.

For a moment, they both remained silent until the angaran double agent spoke again.

"I...want to get Jossah out. And then turn my back on the Roeshaar once and for all. I need you to show him that not all aliens are enemies, _vesagara_." Saraan's face took on an unsettled, almost fearful expression when he noticed Samuel's motionlessness. "Please, I need you." He said.

Samuel took a look at the settlement. It seemed to be completely abandoned. Hopefully this was a good sign. He nodded slowly. "All right."

"Please leave your weapons in the cruiser." Saraan asked, whereupon Samuel stared at him in disbelief.   
"No, Saraan." Samuel shook his head. "You can't ask me to do that, I can't go completely unarmed-.....!"   
Saraan interrupted him: "please. It's important, if you're unarmed, he'll be quicker to convince."

In Samuel everything tightened, his throat tightened and his heart increased in beat. Everything, everything in him rebelled against answering Saraan's request, even though the other looked at him so imploringly. Going unarmed into a nest of Roeshaar? No matter if there were only a few there, it could mean his death. Suddenly Saaran put a hand on Samuel's neck, and the elf looked at him again. The gloved hand wandered to the elf's jaws, in an almost tender gesture, and remained there for a moment longer.

"I will not allow anyone to harm you. Please, trust me." He whispered.

Samuel could not answer, as a storm was starting to rage inside him. Saraan's gaze from his beautiful blue galaxies, the gesture, this touch, his words, the pitch of his voice, his ocean-soft, gentle voice that wanted to make him almost surrender, measured with his paranoid fear and the urgent need to start the cruiser and fly back to Techiix or the base of the Resistance in the east. His face had become a mask and it hurt Saraan to see Samuel like that. But he could understand his reaction. 

"I have betrayed you. I'm sorry." Slowly, very slowly, he stroked his thumb to Samuel's chin and then let go before he looked out the windshield. "I'll try to convince him alone." 

With that, Saraan began to climb out of the cruiser. Samuel remained frozen and stared into the void, listening to himself. It was certainly not a good decision. But he finally made it.

"I...am coming with you." Samuel said in a weak voice.

Saraan, paused, seemed to have to conceive the other's words first. But then his face brightened a little. He turned to Samuel once more and pulled him into an embrace, which the elf let happen. "Thank you." Said the angara softly.

They both left the cruiser and the icy air of Voeld whipped at them, so that they put their helmets on. Samuel unbuckled his pistol from his hip and pulled his two asari swords out of the back brackets. He hesitated once more and looked at the blade weapons, with which he was more deadly than with a pistol and which he actually never put down. Especially not when going into dangerous territory. By the gods, why did he do that? What if... Saraan lured him into a trap? He couldn't even use his ki powers because of the implant in his neck. He would be completely defenseless except for his martial arts skills. He swallowed, placed the weapons in a storage box and locked it, leaving his hands on the lid of the box while he lowered his head. For a moment, Samuel closed his eyes and sent a prayer into the eternity of the stars that reigned beyond the sky covered by snow clouds: _Arashu, help me pass this test. Kalahira, should I fall, guide me safely across your ocean of inscrutable depths._

Saraan had waited in silence for Samuel to be ready, and when he came to him, they walked together towards the settlement. Saraan did not head for the main gate, but for a spot on the high wall made from metal, stone and ice. Arriving at a niche in the wall, he pushed an iced metal plate aside, large enough for Samuel to stand upright and Saraan to sneak through with his head down. After they had passed the wall, the old barracks of the kett lay before them. On top of the platforms where once captive angara had been kept in cages, some of the buildings were now standing, some had been left empty and probably served as shuttle landing pads. The radio masts of the kett had been torn down and replaced by radio masts of the Resistance, probably for camouflage and to eavesdrop on the radio traffic of the Resistance. The base actually seemed to be abandoned. No one encountered them in the first few minutes. Was Saraan's cousin really here? 

Samuel followed the tall angara, who looked around searching and then stopped. From his helmet one could see that he turned his head. Samuel stepped beside him and kept an eye on the surroundings. They were both standing next to the outside wall of one of the buildings when Samuel heard a noise and turned around. He had heard feet creeping inexperienced through the snow, causing the distinctive crunch. Immediately Samuel moved back a little and Saraan turned around. An armored, helmeted angara aimed his Isharay at the smaller of the two intruders. Apparently there really was only one angara and while Samuel was considering whether to try to disarm him, Saraan stepped in front of Samuel and spoke something in a _Shelesh_ dialect to the angara that Samuel's omnitool could not translate. The angara lowered his Isharay a bit when he gave an answer and in that very moment Saraan struck him down with lightning speed and force.

"Come on, let's hurry." Said Saraan, grabbing Samuel by the wrist and dragged him along the alley between the buildings, to a staircase, up to another building. 

The building was taller than all the others and probably housed, among other things, the communication station of the settlement, judging by the huge radio mast. Saraan led the adept and instructed him to wait for a moment and hide, which Samuel did. He watched as Saraan went to the door, opened it and entered. Nervously the elf waited in his hiding place and kept an eye on the windows and the door. For a while nothing happened in the building and Samuel began to worry. Should he go inside and check on Saraan? Maybe he had been knocked down because someone had ambushed him? He was about to leave his hiding place when the door opened and the elf retreated immediately, for he saw four angara coming out of the building, all wearing Roeshaar armor. By the gods, had they killed Saraan? Nausea spread inside him. He waited until the angara had gone down the stairs, then Samuel jumped out of his hiding place and crept inside the building. 

Once inside, he could not see Saraan at first glance, so he crept on carefully. He hid when he heard a noise, jumping on a container and lying down flat. Motionless he remained lying there and listened. He could hear two voices, angara, speaking again in that strange _Shelesh_ dialect for which there was apparently no translation. Neither voice belonged to Saraan. This meant that there were more enemies here than he had hoped. And where was Saraan now? After a few minutes Samuel dared to raise his head and look around. He couldn't find any traces of a fight or traces of blood anywhere, so Saraan had either skilfully crept through the halls or had passed the Roeshaar without trouble. Now there was no one to be seen in the hall, yet he decided not to move on the floor anymore. Skilled as he was, he climbed up onto the metal support struts that ran under the roof of the building. High up, he now balanced over the steel beam, as he often did when he was on an assassination mission. He was silent and fast, moving through the rooms like a deadly shadow. He could see another four Roeshaar on his way, but Saraan was nowehere to be seen. 

The building consisted of two very large halls, which, as a careful look had revealed, had various means of escape: gates for the ground vehicles, smaller doors and, if necessary, windows were available to get out. Since the steel beams were fortunately connected throughout, Samuel was able to proceed without difficulty at this almost dizzying height and in this way reach almost to the end of the second hall. There was also a kind of upper floor, which was more of a wide railing, similar to a guard's gallery. Only at the end of the second hall there was another room in the upper area, apparently the communications room, and it was to this that Samuel was heading. He had to leave the struts, and without making a sound he settled down on the top of the guard corridor, before sneaking along the wall to the first window of the communications room. There he could hear voices inside. One of them could belong to Saraan. Both sounded excited, as if in a heated discussion or argument. 

Samuel crept on and waited on his knees under the window to listen as the sensors in his helmet registered movements and figures coming up the stairs. He immediately retreated and looked around for a place to hide, but the support struts were now too far up. With the help of his ki powers he could have easily and silently covered this distance, but now that was not possible. His pulse seemed to triple when he could already recognize the helmets of the Roeshaar at the bottom of the stairs. Damn it! Now he probably had to fight and without any weapon, only swiftness and silence would be on his side. The only thing he could do now was to use the moment of surprise and take the guys out before they knew what was happening to them.

The elf waited in a squatting position next to the stairs behind the railing, and as the first of the two opponents went up the stairs past him, Samuel tore him from his feet with a furious combination of grabs and punches against his legs and abdomen, so that his surprised opponent fell on the top step and his chum behind him fell on him. This didn't knock the two guys out, but it gave Samuel the opportunity to take their weapons and then he could knock them out. The whole thing went off very quickly and without any noise, except for the blows to the neck of the two Roeshaar. Then he pulled them away from the stairs to the other side into the shadows. Just at that moment the door to the communications room opened and Samuel looked into the slightly surprised face of Saraan, who had taken off his helmet. He waved him into the room and Samuel, who had also taken off his helmet, entered shortly afterwards to see another angaran face, but it did not look pleased at all The corner of his left mouth showed a fresh puncture wound, most likely inflicted by Saraan.

"By the stars, you dare bring a _vesagara_ here?" The angara hissed.  
"Jossah, this is Samuel Wolfsbane of the Initiative. Yes, he's a human, an alien, but he's not an enemy." Saraan said.  
"You, of all people, put your trust in an alien? What has become of you, cousin?" Said the angara named Jossah snidely.  
"I came here to save your life, Jossah. And to prove to you that not all aliens are evil. I had to learn that too, I had the same attitude as you, Samuel proved me wrong!"

Samuel looked around between the two of them and didn't know if he should say anything, then decided to keep silent, especially because they switched between the well-known _Shelesh_ and the strange dialect while arguing. He could take a look at the screens that apparently showed what the surveillance cameras were picking up and saw that six angara gathered in the first hall and left. Three of them, however, went into the hall where the communication room was located.

“Why should I trust him, why should I trust **you**? He has deceived you, these aliens will do anything to destroy us." Growled Jossah, probably reciting one of the many Roeshaar manifestos he had been taught.

Saraan growled and punched his cousin in the face - or again in the face. Samuel raised both eyebrows, but held back further. Jossah, who had staggered back from the blow and bounced against one of the consoles, wiped his lip with angry eyes. Bluish purple blood gushed from the wound. Perhaps he had just wanted to attack his cousin, but his words held him back.

"You fool! He came with me, voluntarily, without any weapons, because he trusts me and wants to take you away with me from these fanatics! Samuel is not an enemy, I swear it by my true mother." Saraan said.  
"And why in the stars would I believe a filthy alien?" Asked Jossah, and now he fixed Samuel with a hostile look.  
"He saved my life and almost died himself. Without hesitation he agreed to accompany me to you. He is fighting against the New Order and I have never before seen an alien who so selflessly stands up for others, including angara!” Saraan suddenly grabbed Samuel by the upper arm and pushed him a bit to Jossah.

Uncertain, the elf looked from Saraan to his cousin. "I...have seen what a large family Saraan has. And he cares about every single one of them. And is very concerned about you." He finally said in a calm, almost gentle voice. "It doesn't matter what you think of me, but... please listen to your cousin and come with him."

Jossah looked into the diamond soul mirrors of the elf and narrowed his greenish cat eyes, then he stepped so close to Samuel that there was hardly more than a handbreadth of space between them. "You will walk before me, and if you turn around once, I will shoot you, _vesagara_ , understood?." He rumbled threateningly.

Samuel heard Saraan take a breath and want to say something, but he beat him to it and answered with a mask-like expression, "Understood.” 

He noticed the amazement in the still dark, distrustful look of the angara, apparently he had not expected the alien to submit to his fate so quickly. 

Saraan glanced at the surveillance screens and widened his eyes, silently cursing. "Three Roeshaar come here. If they spot Samuel, they will kill him."  
"Inless I pretend he is my prisoner." Jossah pondered while Samuel stared anxiously at the screens. "Do not move a step." The cousin warned the elf who watched the angara questioningly.

Jossah went to a cabinet and pulled out electronic restraints. Samuel's bowels contracted again and he looked alarmed at Saraan. 

"We will pretend that we caught you here. And take you outside for execution." Said Jossah.  
"I-I'm supposed to get the shackles....?" Samuel got dizzy.

How far would he still have to go? But if Saraan had wanted to kill him, he would've had opportunities all along the way. No, Saraan was serious about him. But Jossah? He came up to him and grabbed a hand of the elf who wanted to pull it back out of reflex, but he overcame himself and had the shackles put on him.

"I will get you out of here. All of us." Saraan whispered to Samuel.

Samuel looked down. It was rare that he was afraid. Now he was scared. For now he was truly at the mercy of the others and only Saraan was now able to bring his fate to a good end. No sooner had they left the communications room as they met the three angara on the edge of the stairs, who immediately turned their weapons on Samuel. But Saraan stepped in, raised both hands and said something in a commanding, harsh tone that Samuel again did not understand. Jossah, however, spoke in his usual language.

"We caught that dirty _vesagara_ trying to sneak into the communications room. We'll take him outside and finish him off there." In the process, he held Samuel roughly by the collar.

One of the three angara approached Samuel and stared at him through the visor of his helmet with hateful eyes. He growled something in a foreign language and suddenly punched him hard in the face with the back of his hand, so that he would have stumbled to the side if Jossah had not held him. He groaned and pulled his face in pain, but kept silent and did nothing, because that was the only thing that could save his life now. Saraan clenched his hands into fists and gave the Roeshaar an angry look, but he too remained silent and instead grabbed Samuel by the shoulder to pull him along with him. Samuel groped after him with a sore face and bleeding lip, followed by Jossah. Miraculously, the three let them pass, but watched them suspiciously. 

At the foot of the stairs, however, the tide turned suddenly when another angara came the path, rubbing his neck. He stopped when he saw the three coming down the stairs, and suddenly he screamed something, pointed at Saraan and pulled his Isharay. Saraan immediately pulled Samuel to the side and drew his gun when the three angara from above began to shoot without hesitation.

Jossah, who had been standing below and didn't quite know what to do, was hit by a shot and cried out before falling to the ground. Saraan first shot the angara, who had sounded the alarm, before turning around and aiming upwards. Samuel, who had been drawn for cover, crawled from his hiding place to Jossah and grabbed him by the straps of his upper body armor to drag him out of the crossfire. He was still alive, the shot had not wounded him significantly, but had stunned him. In vain he tried to get his shackles off. He couldn't support Saraan that way, so he pulled Jossah further across the floor towards one of the side doors he had located. 

Saraan, meanwhile, continued shooting upwards and had already finished one of the Roeshaar when a shot hit him and he went down on his knees. Samuel gasped and jumped out of cover, ran to the dead Roeshaar lying on the ground, whose rifle, the Isharay, he took. He could not shoot very well with the damn cuffs, but it should be enough to give Saraan fire protection. 

"Come on, let's go!" He shouted to Saraan, who staggered to his cousin after more shots.

Jossah finally regained consciousness at that moment and saw his wounded cousin trying to help him to his feet. Jossah looked from Saraan to Samuel and back to his cousin.

"He...did not do it. Let's get out of here!" Saraan groaned strained. 

The armor on his belly had a gaping hole, as Samuel saw to his horror. More shots were fired and one could hear the two remaining Roeshaar running down the stairs. 

Samuel looked at Jossah. "Please, untie me, I can't help you otherwise!"  
"No." Jossah growled and supported Saraan as he fired an inaccurate shot at the other angara. 

They moved toward the door and tried to keep the attackers from coming closer. Saraan also fired, but he got weaker noticeably. Finally they reached the door, stepped through and closed it behind them. The Roeshaar would not be deterred for long. Saraan went over on his ankles shortly after and he sank to the ground with a painful groan. Samuel immediately knelt beside him and turned to Jossah once more.

"Damn it, get these shackles off me or your cousin will die!" He shouted. "Please!" He looked at Saraan in growing desperation. 

He couldn't use his omnitool, which still had a few cans of medigel stored on it, as long as he was wearing the shackles. Jossah looked from Saraan to Samuel and seemed unsettled. Casting a curse, he pulled a tiny device out of one of his pockets, held it to Samuel's cuffs and they were deactivated before they fell off. 

Saraan looked at him. "Get... get the shuttle, Samuel."  
Samuel nodded. "I will leave you my omnitool. Use the medigel and hide!" He told Saraan.

Without hesitation, he pulled off the wristband that activated the omnitool, watched by a suspiciously surprised Jossah, jumped up and ran.

"He won't come back, he tricked you." Jossah growled.  
"Shut up, Jossah." Saraan panted. "He... will come back." He looked the way Samuel had gone. He had to come back. 

Samuel ran, he jumped onto a crate, jumped off, bounced to the roof of a building and ran on. His throat was burning from the freezing cold air, he was panting heavily, he knew he could be seen and shot at, no matter how fast and nimble he was, but the only thing that burned in his head like a beacon was the thought of Saraan and that every second that passed potentially brought him closer to death. He had suffered a severe gunshot wound to the stomach and was about to bleed to death. The medigel would only stabilize him a bit, but he was in urgent need of medical help. _Arashu, I beg you, get us out of this chaos safely_ , he prayed silently. And the Goddess seemed to be well-disposed towards him. He made it to the wall and to the niche through which he had passed with Saraan without being discovered. 

Saraan and Jossah had barricaded themselves behind a container and got into a new heavy firefight with three Roeshaar, which the remaining attacker could alert from the building. Saraan also fired, but hit nothing and felt his arm getting heavier and heavier, and colder and colder. The medigel had helped him, but the wound was very deep, the cartridge was probably stuck somewhere and had injured a main vessel. Jossah knelt at the corner of the container, peering and shooting again and again.

"The damn alien is not coming back, we are lost!" He shouted full of anger and at the same time full of fear.  
"He...he.... comes...back...." Said Saraan, who had been leaning against the container and was now sinking down.

Jossah swore angrily when he saw his cousin slowly losing consciousness. How could he be so stupid and trust an alien? Just now he swore that he would kill this alien as soon as he saw it again - and he would chase it all over the galaxy if necessary - when a big shadow appeared near the container. Shortly afterwards, Jossah could hear shots being fired from a massive twin gun, which went down in veritable explosions. He dared to peek around the corner and saw two large black smoking holes in the snowy ground, exactly where the crates had been until just now, behind which the three angara had barricaded themselves. He could also see that two of the attackers had just escaped while the third was lying dead on the ground. A shuttle hovered in the immediate vicinity and finally landed. And lo and behold! The human with the strange pointed ears jumped out. Jossah could not believe it. 

Samuel looked around, spotted Jossah and rushed to him. Horror spread in his face when he saw Saraan looking up at him and smiling weakly.

“You have...come back." He breathed faintly.  
"Of course, I told you before, I will not let you die!" Said Samuel and looked at Jossah. "Help me get him in the shuttle!"  
This time the cousin helped, supporting his relative, who shuffled to the shuttle on shaky legs, Samuel and Jossah beside him. Jossah sat in the pilot's seat and flew off immediately while Samuel sat with Saraan and looked at the wound. His omnitool had apparently been destroyed during the fight - or so Jossah had said - so he was unable to inform anyone. But Saraan still had his omnitool and contacted Techiix. Samuel did the talking and informed the resisters about the emergency and that medical help was urgently needed. 

Jossah at first seemed to refuse to fly to Techiix and said: "to Techiix? If they see me there in Roeshaar armor..."   
"Your cousin will die if you don't fly to Techiix and as soon as possible!" Samuel shouted indignantly and surprised himself at his emotionality.   
Jossah hesitated and sighed. "Hold on." He growled and accelerated the shuttle. 

He tried to get out everything he could of the cruiser, knowing that Techiix was three quarters of an hour away. Samuel and Saraan were pressed into their seats, Saraan turned his head and looked at Samuel, who looked at him with a worried, even fearful expression.

"Are...you worried about me?" He asked tiredly.  
Samuel nodded. "Yes, of course." He said softly.   
" _Yes, of course._ " Saraan repeated, somewhat thoughtfully and smiled weakly. "Hm. Actually...I was supposed to protect you. And now you had to save me. Again." Saraan kept falling over his eyes.  
Samuel leaned over and squeezed one of his shoulders. "Stay awake." He said.

Saraan looked deep into his eyes, which were sluggishly twitching back and forth. Weakly he raised one hand and laid it on Samuel's, which held him by the shoulder before it sank down powerlessly. Samuel caught it and held it tight. He swallowed, feeling tears gathering inside as he watched Saraan grow paler and weary. 

"I'm glad... to have met you, Samuel." Saraan whispered before closing his eyes.  
"Saraan!" Samuel gasped and shook the angara gently, but he no longer responded. 

In panic, he took off one glove and placed his index and middle finger on Saraan's carotid artery to feel his pulse. Did angara have a pulse there? Did they even have a pulse? They had a heart, so, yes, damn, then there had to be a pulse, where was the fucking pulse?! Finally, finally, he could feel a faint throb on Saraan's neck and he breathed out.

"Don't you die." He said. "I won't let you die!" He took another breath and whispered: "Arashu, Goddess of Motherhood and Protection, once again I beg you, protect him, protect all of us and guide us safely along this path.”

Jossah, who was sitting in the front pilot's seat, had followed all this in silence, although he did not observe them either, as he had to concentrate on flying. But the alien's words and how he pronounced them, finally this strange prayer, triggered something in him that he could not attribute. An alien was so worried about one of his? Maybe... his cousin had been right after all. Maybe not all aliens were hostile and malicious.

The cruiser speeded across the snow-covered plains, which ended in huge ice formations, further south, along a mountain slope, towards Techiix, which had been built into this mountain. Since Jossah knew where Techiix was and was flying at top speed, it took barely half an hour for the cruiser to fly into the hangar where it was already expected. Saraan's cousin watched with uneasiness the many resistance fighters and aliens that were everywhere, but also the paramedics that rushed to the hangar. He stayed in the pilot's seat and opened the side door of the cruiser, which then swung up. Immediately angara were on hand to unstrap the wounded, unconscious Saraan from the seat and carefully lift him onto a stretcher. Samuel unbuckled and climbed out of the cruiser while he watched the medical staff take care of the injured man. Eska Yeveth herself, the steward from Techiix, came to Samuel and asked him to give her a brief initial report on what had happened, which he did leaving out Saraan's activity as a double agent. She finally looked at the cruiser, from which Jossah now hesitantly got out.

"You will be placed in protective custody until it is decided what to do with you." She said sternly to the Roeshaar.  
Suddenly Samuel aided Jossah. "He was blinded, like all the Roeshaar, Steward. He decided to come with us and fought with us when we got into the firefight. He could have supported his allies, but he did not. I cannot decide his fate, but I ask you to be merciful with him."

Disbelief spread most clearly in the face of Jossah as Eska Yeveth looked at the elf thoughtfully and then nodded softly. 

"I will remember your words, Commander Wolfsbane, but he will be put in custody first," she said, then she looked at Jossah: "and you should do the same! An alien is standing up for you. I hope you learn from it."

Jossah nodded silently and lowered his eyes before he walked away with two resistance fighters without a fight. Eska nodded at Samuel and wanted to leave as well, but paused when Samuel asked: "May I see Saraan as soon as he is awake? If he....." he faltered and lowered his eyes. "No, he will survive. He is...very strong." He said softly.

Eska looked at him for a moment, noticing the laceration on his lip. "You should go to the infirmary yourself, because of your injury. I will forward your authorization to let you see him." Samuel nodded. "It is...nice to see that there are aliens who are really serious about making peace with us."  
"I am concerned with him for more than peace." Samuel said softly. Gods, why did he say that now?  
Eska's full lips played around a smile and she stepped closer once more, looking at the man in front of her. "The medigel you used has stabilized him, I'm sure he will survive and regain his strength."

The steward left Samuel and the hangar and disappeared. Samuel sighed softly and closed his eyes before folding his hands once more into a silent prayer at his chest and lowering his head. No sooner had he finished the prayer of thanksgiving when he saw Patricia, Varius and Jace hurrying towards him. Of course they wanted to know from him what exactly had happened and Samuel gave them exactly the same concise report as he had given it to the steward - and this time he omitted the double-day activity of Saraan as well. And also that Saraan had asked him to go unarmed into a Roeshaar nest and pretend to be a prisoner for a short time.

"Adventurous!" Said Jace. "It never gets dull with you."  
"You should have taken us with her, Commander." Said Patricia.  
"Saraan preferred to show up with only one alien rather than four, so as not to scare his cousin too much." Samuel replied pragmatically.  
"Hm!" Patricia hummed. "Argument. Let's hope the lieutenant gets back on his feet quickly so he can say thank you."  
Samuel nodded softly and said softly: "I hope so, too."  
"He brought you back alive after all, good for him." Said Varius. "Does this mean we'll leave Techiix now?"  
"No. I'll stay until the lieutenant wakes up or unless the Nexus has new orders." Samuel replied, giving Varius a quick look. The turian returned his look neutrally and remained silent.

Jace and Patricia retreated at first, heading to the merchants area or the kiosk to get a drink, but Varius stayed with Samuel, who wanted to activate his omnitool as usual and then realized that he no longer possessed it. 

"Damn..." he suppressed a curse and looked at the cruiser, in which his weapons still lay. He took them out and put them back on again when a fit of weakness made him stagger and he put one hand on the metal paneling of the cruiser.   
"Are you okay?" Varius asked. It was clear that this had to happen just when his lovely love-sick rigger was present.  
"Yes, yes, everything okay. I'm just a bit exhausted." Said Samuel. He did not have to mention that this was an understatement. However, Varius already knew that.  
"You should get some sleep." He said as Samuel looked at him. Varius lifted a claw and carefully touched the injury on Samuel's lip, who then slightly pulled a face and turned his head away.  
"It’s nothing." He murmured softly.  
"Could you stop being so stubborn when we are alone?" Varius asked gently.  
"We are not alone. And if we were; no, I couldn't." Samuel replied.

Varius looked around, then grabbed Samuel's shoulder and pushed him away from the cruiser. "Jace secured three beds in the hostel and a hot shower." He said.  
Samuel suppressed a yawn. "Really? Jace has real talent. Normally nobody gets in there, let alone aliens."  
"Yeah, unless it's Jace. And has Patricia with him, who has her tightest combat outfit with the lowest neckline." Varius chuckled.  
"Oookay." Samuel said and left it at that.

Spending a night in the _arataan_ and enjoying a hot shower sounded almost heavenly after these exertions. He was too tired, too exhausted to worry about Varius being with him or to discuss with him that he wanted to shower alone. The shower cabins there were probably not too big anyway. And the _arataan_ eventually accommodated more guests than just the four aliens. Together with Varius he walked through the complex to the hostel and entered after a short registration. There was actually the possibility to take a shower, even in a separate cabin - a real luxury. Samuel stayed as long as possible under the warm water jet and left the cabin even more tired to go to the room that Jace had gotten hold of. Two bunk beds, four beds in total, designed for angara, thus completely sufficient for humans and turians, were available. Samuel did not pay attention if any of them were occupied and dropped directly onto the first lower one.

"Hey, that's mine." Varius complained, but did not sound really outraged.  
"Hmm, take another." Samuel muttered and crawled to the pillow, put his head on it and closed his eyes. He would not move a millimeter.

Varius sat down at the edge of the bed he had originally chosen and looked at the exhausted man now lying there. Then he raised one claw and stroked carefully over the neck of the other, up to the edge of the shirt he was wearing. He did not resist the urge to bend over to him and place a gentle kiss on his neck. Samuel murmured softly, but was already dozing. Varius pulled the blanket out from under the slender body and laid it over Samuel.

“Hmm...thanks.” Samuel whispered.  
“Anytime, my stubborn Commander.” Varius said softly before he climbed into the lower bed opposite and lay down.


	34. Interlude 10: In the Arataan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel awakes once again from heavy nightmares and Varius, who drives his commander more and more into confusion and insecurity, has a solution for better sleep.
> 
> WARNING: homosexual, erotic content.

The following three days, which they spent in Techiix, were relatively quiet. Samuel was not unhappy about this, because the nights were mostly sleepless for him. Saraan de Kanos had received emergency care and surgery and needed rest. Samuel had not visited him, but had obtained information from the steward when he met her. He had received a message on the Nexus that someone had tried to contact him. After a brief conversation with the supply officer and the corresponding request, Samuel was told that he would receive a new omnitool in the next few days. 

Samuel was exhausted, his body urgently needed rest, but his mind was unwilling to grant it, for the nights he slept in the _arataan_ with Jace, Patricia and Varius, he was plagued by new nightmares. He had expected he‘d get some sleep due to his physical exhaustion but even this simple fact didn‘t seem to be enough. A violent jolt went through the adept's body before the eyelids opened and Samuel lay wide awake in his bed, staring at the slatted frame of the bed above him were Patricia slept. Dazed from sleep but too flustered to fall asleep, he sat up a few moments later and ran his hands across his face, groaning softly. Then he lowered his head, folded his hands and sat there for some endless minutes while he listened to the breathing sounds of his three companions.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the images from his nightmare again, so that despite his tiredness, further sleep was barely conceivable. It was the same nightmare he had had for many years: the rain-soaked street, the burning building. The figure of a red-haired girl who was swallowed by the flames before the fire itself reached him, hissing and spluttering loudly like a huge snake.

Again, like every night, sleep wasn't an option at the moment. Samuel sighed and swung his legs out of bed before he slowly rose and immediately felt himself becoming dizzy. He staggered and made a clumsy step, kicking one foot against Varius' armor that he had placed on the floor next to him, causing a soft clatter that woke the two turians. Varius and Jace immediately grabbed their pistols almost synchronously, Jace aimed from above, since he was lying in the bed above Varius, and Varius aimed from below at the figure who raised its arms in a defensive manner.

"Wow, easy. Only me." The elf whispered.  
"Mh, good." Jace mumbled, put his gun away again and turned his face to the wall to continue sleeping.

Varius yawned and stuck out his long blue tongue while he spread his mandibles, which looked very predatory on one hand and funny on the other hand, and raised the question whether one should find this funny or scary. Samuel's mind was actually occupied with exactly this question and so he stared at the turian with an empty gaze, not realizing that he was staring.

"You are staring, Commander." Varius mumbled.

Samuel then blinked and averted his gaze before he went back to his bed and sat down without lying down. He bent forward, resting one elbow on his thighs, while he ran his hand of the other arm through the white open hair and dropped it to the side of his shoulder before folding his hands and staring. Varius watched as he lay there. 

For a while he simply looked at the elf before he asked quietly: "don't you want to try to sleep some more?  
"I can‘t." Samuel replied quietly as well.  
"Nightmares again?" Varius asked. "You have them every night."

Samuel did not answer, just shrugged his shoulders gently, which was probably meant to be a confirmation. Varius had done nothing the previous nights and had not addressed the problem, but now he felt somehow obliged to help Samuel finally get some sleep. He had to do something for the man he loved. He stretched in his bed once and then sat up. He swung his legs out of the bed and rose to walk leisurely over to Samuel. The claws on his feet caused a barely perceptible clicking sound. Samuel raised his head and looked up at him. Varius leaned one hand against the upper of the two beds, looked down at Samuel. _That pretty face could use a kiss_ , Varius thought amused. Samuel was tired, but Varius' look and the way he stood there, without his armor, dressed only in loose trousers, caused a strange feeling inside him. It was the tiredness and a quiet escape from the other's deep gaze that made him lower his head again and close his eyes while he quietly exhaled. 

Varius crouched down before him and whispered: "lie down again.“

Samuel took a quiet breath of air before deciding to follow the instruction and make another attempt to sleep. After he had laid down, facing the wall he felt Varius sit down at the edge of the bed.

"Shall I stay?" He asked quietly. "The nightmares did not return the last time."  
Samuel shook his head sluggishly: "mh, no."

A soft sigh escaped the white-haired man's chest. It was not a good idea to let Varius get into bed. How had his rigger ever managed to make them talk and interact so intimately with each other anyway? While he was thinking about it, he didn't even feel how the tiredness overpowered him and Morpheus drew him to himself again. But the creatures of the nightmare world had only llay in wait and as soon as Samuel had dozed off, they haunted him again with fire and screaming, with the worst feelings of fear, until he flinched again and opened his eyes, turned on his back while he gasped softly. Varius was still sitting at the edge of his bed and had leaned his back against the ladder leading up to the other bed. 

"Shshsh. It‘s alright." He whispered faintly.

Samuel looked at him and swallowed before he put the palms of his hands on his forehead and closed his eyes. "Nothing‘s alright. …. Shit." He whispered. "I just...want to sleep." Although he whispered, it sounded desperate.

Varius shook his head gently and then did what he had wanted to do before Samuel dozed off. He lay down beside him, turned to the side so that his chest and abdomen touched the back and buttocks of the elf.

"Varius, I-....!" Samuel raised a very quiet protest and was interrupted.  
"Hush. Let me help you." Said Varius.

He put one arm under Samuel's crook of the neck and the other over the elf's body and pulled him close. No sooner had Varius done this as this stunning, burning, so violently confusing feeling emerged in Samuel's stomach and spread to his chest, soon filling his entire body. What was that, by the gods? To his sheer horror, Samuel also felt his body begin to tingle, his loins to pulsate. Varius felt the other's body tense up after he had taken him in his arms.

"Try to relax." He whispered. 

He noticed Samuel's body temperature rising and almost instantly smelled the scent, this very scent that made him so crazy about him. Varius emitted a quiet, inhuman deep growl, leaned his forehead against the elf's neck and closed his eyes while he deeply inhaled the scent. Damn, he could eat him up, he so belonged to him! His arms closed a little tighter around Samuel's upper body and he put his claw on the chest of the elf, so he noticed how the heart increased in beating frequency. This made him smile. His body spoke a completely different language than his lips, which he liked to close with kisses.

"Hmm, do I make you nervous?" He whispered.

Samuel gritted his teeth and kept silent at first. Stupid question! He was damn nervous and he didn't even know why. Having Varius lying there with him caused such an immense tension in him, as if he was lying in bed with his great love for the first time. When this thought touched his mind, he was terrified. No, no! What an idiotic thought! Damn it, that's definitely not the case! No, he did **not** feel what Varius felt for him. He didn't **want** to feel it! Was he about to fall for Varius? No, _no_ , **no**! Samuel clenched a fist and pulled a face which Varius couldn’t see. Why did he feel that way? So helpless, so desperate, so fearful, so... burning. _Kalahira, please, kill those feelings inside me!_ He begged.

His insides were burning, his chest was smouldering, his throat was cramped, his heart was beating too fast. Shit! What had happened that made him react like that? Just the ravages of time that had gnawed away? Varius' predatory patience, which forced him to give up little by little? For a long time, he had been completely unimpressed by the advances of his rigger, but now, after the time he had spent with him - and the often not entirely consensual lovers' trysts - and due to this so caring, tender manner, also the way he talked to him, his words, his voice - that turians had an attractive voice was out of question anyway, but differently attractive than angara - all this had confused him so much and now he had to struggle with emotions he neither knew nor could handle. And Varius didn't let up, especially after he became more and more aware that he was getting closer to his goal.

"Go..back to your bed, please." Samuel finally whispered. He felt that his body betrayed him, sleep was now out of the question.

Varius' senses had very well perceived the increase in intensity and the desire grew to increase this intensity even more. The upper arm, which held Samuel in its embrace, moved slowly, caressing over Samuel's shoulder, down his flank, and before Samuel could stop him, Varius' claw touched the center of his body. And felt the other's excitement, which made him murmur softly and made him cuddle even closer to Samuel, especially with his abdomen, while he rubbed his forehead and nose against the other's neck.

"Flattering, your reaction." He whispered softly and grinned. "Should I..."  
"No, damn it!" Samuel hissed softly.

There were two other people in the room, the thought alone was embarrassing like hell, but at least it temporarily distracted him from his confusing feelings, which did not last very long when he heard Varius' words.

"Are you.... sure, my _caris_?"

Varius did not remain inactive for long, but rather ran his claw over Samuel's abdomen in a barely perceptible touch, which made the elf shiver. Varius remembered that time, the night watch on Kadara. Samuel had also had nightmares then, and after Varius' _”rendezvous”_ under the roof of the guardhouse he had been more relaxed. Much more relaxed. The body he was holding was as warm as if he was suffering from fever, but Varius knew what caused the increased temperature and also that he was by no means innocent of it. Not that he was not happy about the fact his sweet commander got aroused from his simple presence. With his arm lying under Samuel, he grabbed him a little harder and ran his other claw boldly to Samuel's crotch, which he began to massage while he breathed into the white-haired man's pointed ear and took a gentle bite of his neck. 

Samuel, slightly panicky, disbelieving because Varius was so cheeky and at the same time immensely aroused, shivered again, more violently this time and sucked the air sharply over his nose while he clenched his teeth. He felt hot lust fill him what Varius recognized with favour making him go under the fabric of his lover's legwear and underwear and began to arouse him directly. Samuel reached into the fabric of the bed with a trembling hand, when lust overcame him very quickly. He fought himself and suppressed every groan and too loud gasp with all his might, while he closed his eyes and stretched out his neck against Varius' sharp teeth, who pulled him even closer and put the free claw to the throat of the elf, so that Samuel's other hand grasped the wrist of the turian. Varius then took this hand, pulled it close to his mouth and breathed a kiss on the knuckles. 

Samuel slightly cringed when he felt that caressing gesture. Gods, he felt as if he was melting away. Shit, what was Varius doing there? Why did he have to behave like he was his lover?! They were not a couple! The thoughts floated away in Samuel's mind, when he felt his heated body approaching the climax almost frighteningly fast, into which Varius' claw pushed him further and further. He could not help but surrender, swallowed violently and closed his eyes again, still struggling with his self-control. Varius himself was now very excited, how could it be otherwise, but he would hold back that night, even if it would be unpleasant. Actually, Patricia was the only problem, he did not want her to notice anything. If he had been here alone with Jace and Samuel, the night would probably have been very different now.

At last he felt Samuel's body start to shiver violently and tense up before he bent slightly. The fact that he pressed a hand on his mouth to keep his lust from getting too loud made the turian grin before he licked longingly over the warm skin of Samuel's neck. He massaged him faster as he felt the warm, moist ejaculation on his claw and listened to the so laboriously suppressed lust-filled sounds that the man in his arms made, which made him shiver himself. He gritted his fangs and fought down his own lust, but enjoyed every moment in which he held the human captive in the climax until it slowly released him from its clutches and the slender body in his arms lost its tension.

Since Varius did not want to move, not least because he had a damn boner, Samuel would fall asleep with wet trousers. But as long as he fell asleep the goal was achieved. Samuel gasped softly and stared into the dark emptiness, feeling the other's body against his own. His loins were still pulsating, tiredness was flooding him, but could not wash away the feelings of shame and the quiet despair that had united with the deep confusion. 

"Better?" Varius whispered very close to his ear.  
"Idiot..." Gasped Samuel, just as softly.  
"Hmm, your idiot." The other chuckled silently.

And in Samuel everything became tense again. Even his soul seemed to do that. 

"Damn, just…!" He did not want to become too loud, but looked at Varius through the darkness with tired anger.

Amusement glowed in the orange-red eyes and caused even more insecurity in Samuel. Varius wanted to take that chance and leaned towards him as if he wanted to kiss him, but Samuel turned his head away. 

So Varius came close to Samuel's ear with his mouth, so that he could whisper and said: "sleep, _caris_ , I will take care of you.”

Samuel gritted his teeth when he suddenly felt tears collect in his eyes and a lump in his throat. He crouched and tried to swallow the tears. Varius' behavior towards him had changed, he had gone from being a constantly flirtatious, disreputable fool to someone who gave the viewer the impression that he was the Commander's mate. He felt so powerless. Especially now. As if there was only thin glass left, which served as a barrier and could easily be broken. And Varius did this more and more with his words and gestures.

He did not want to and could not get involved with him. Even if Saraan had put his trust to the test today and that would have repercussions, he would be the last thought that struck him before fatigue caught up with him and he fell asleep in the arms of the turian who had decided to make him giving up and keep him for himself.


	35. Chapter 26: Nightmares and Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nightmares haunt Samuel, more and more feelings confuse the otherwise controlled and disciplined commander, especially when Saraan suddenly shows obvious affection.

_Garuhna al Vidas, the sister of Saraan de Kanos, stood in front of him with tears streaming down her face, her light blue skin had become even lighter and her beautiful blue cat-like eyes reflected deepest pain. Her voice sounded broken, choked with tears as she spoke._

_"Samuel. Saraan...succumbed to his injuries last night. He...is dead."_

_Her voice echoed across the room. Then the world went dark. Garuhna's face lost its color and her contours became blurred. Suddenly the floor on which they had both been standing gave way. The hangar of Techiix in which they had been, collapsed and disintegrated into fragments. Blackness washed around his mind as he fell into an endless and bottomless void. A scream, a loud, shrill cry from a woman's throat, accompanied his fall into the depths._

_And then he woke up, winced, eyes open, with a racing pulse, bathed in sweat, breathing heavily, before his body began to tremble, before panic struck his supposedly awake and yet disoriented mind. He wanted to sit up, wanted to jump out of bed, out of the room, and was not even sure if he was awake at all. He could not move and remained lying down. An arm lay on his chest and held him down while a body lay beside him and slept. When he turned his head, he was startled, because he saw that Saraan was lying and sleeping next to him. In astonishment he looked at the angara as it opened its eyes and looked at him with its beautiful, catlike, bright blue galaxy eyes._

_His mouth opened a crack and then he whispered, "I am so sorry, taoshay.“_

_Samuel turned and looked at him. He wanted to ask him what he was sorry for and was surprised that he didn't find the term the angara used when they addressed a lover, taoshay, confusing. He was even more confused that he could not speak. Then his hand instinctively moved to the belly of the tall alien, to where the bullet wound was. Sheer horror gripped Samuel when he saw his handful of blue blood and that Saraan was bleeding from a nasty deep wound. He hastily raised his eyes and wanted to say something - and froze, even more horrified than before. Saraan's eyes had become empty, lifeless, had lost their beautiful sheen - for he was dead._

__Now Samuel awoke and reared up so that he sat upright in bed for a few seconds. The sudden movement had awakened Varius, who had slept next to him. When he saw the catatonic expression on Samuel's face, he carefully touched him on the shoulder, made the elf flinch and look at him, or rather looked through him._ _

__"Hey, take it easy." Varius spoke gently and sat up.  
"S-Saraan...is he...is he still alive?" Samuel gasped.  
"I do not know." Varius murmured softly and added in thought that he didn't care much about that._ _

__Now when he saw Samuel trying to climb over him to get out of bed and still seemed so absent, he caught him and pulled him back into the bed. "Hey, wake up first. You were dreaming. Nothing happened." He said softly._ _

__Patricia's head appeared from above and looked down, so that her open brown hair fell down, framing her face. When she saw the two of them lying there, she blinked in bewilderment at first, then she smiled. Varius looked up to her moderately impressed and continued to hold Samuel, who was still orientating himself._ _

__"Slept badly? I can hardly imagine." Said the biotic, obvisouly amused.  
"He never sleeps badly when I'm in bed with him." Varius replied relaxed._ _

__Meanwhile Samuel was beginning to realize that what he had just experienced was only a dream. The concern for Saraan still persisted, but it was temporarily edged aside by the fact that Varius was still lying with him as if they were a couple and the Phoenix's biotic, Patricia Potter, greatest chatterbox ever, walking newspaper of the ship, worse than his sister, was aware of it. Samuel looked up at her, looked at Varius, then he wriggled out of the embrace and climbed out of bed. Patricia watched the whole thing and could not suppress her grin._ _

__"Well, well, the two of you then. Rumors seem to be true.” She said.  
"Not a single rumor is true. Potter, if you breathe a word of this to anyone in the Phoenix, especially to the emissary..." Samuel wasn't in a joking mood, but his biotic took it calmly.  
"I won't tell, Commander." She gurgled.  
"Promise in the name of your biotic abilities." Samuel demanded.  
Patricia pursed her lips. "Yes, I promise. If you tell me..."  
Samuel frowned at her.  
".... are you a couple now, or...?  
"No! We are not a couple!" The elf growled irritably. _ _

__Varius, had stayed in bed, had his head resting sideways on the knuckles of his claw hand and had silently followed the conversation as if this was a scene of some dramedy series._ _

__"Well, if you ask me, Potter..." now Jace came up from the other loft bed "our handsome commander has a crush on Talorian but won't admit it.”  
"I have no crush on him." Snorted Samuel.  
"Some people on the Phoenix don't see it that way." Patricia said it again._ _

__Samuel took a breath, thinking about reasonableness of starting a fight right now, reconsidered and closed his eyes. "Kalahira, help me." He just spoke softly and then packed his things. "I'm out of here. Atrix, tell me how much the room cost you, I'll contribute."_ _

__"Hmm, contribute? I know a way you could clear your debts." Said Jace, making Samuel pause again but not look at him. "By the way, I booked the room for the next two days, ‘cause I guess we'll be staying a while." The turian added.  
"Thank you." The answer was monotonously and quietly. He still didn’t leave his belongings here. Shaking his head, Samuel finally left the room. _ _

__"That little human is just hot." Jace smiled after Samuel had left the room._ _

__Patricia looked around between the two turians, who seemed to be enjoying a strange kind of triumph._ _

__"Is there anyone in this room who doesn't have at least a little crush on the Commander?" She asked and received a unanimous "No", with Jace adding: "I for one just want to screw his brains out.”_ _

__Patricia blushed at that open words._ _

__

__Samuel, tired, ashamed, thoughtful and annoyed allowed himself a quick shower, a necessity after he remembered what Varius had done to him last night and after seeing his pants. He was getting dressed when Jace walked into the shower room and saw him packing the old laundry into a sack that he would empty again on the Phoenix. Unfortunately, Jace caught a glimpse of the pants, which, like many of Samuel's clothes, were dark in color. He usually wore either anthracite or black when he wasn't accompanying the emissary, so one could see the residue from the previous event as light spots on the inside of the pants. Jace quietly undressed while Samuel hurried._ _

__"Seems to have worked out." Said the turian casually.  
"Please?" Samuel looked at him questioningly.  
"Varius‘... _sleeping aid_. " Jace said suggestively.  
Samuel blushed slightly but preferred to remain silent.  
"Too bad Potter was there, I would have cast any nightmare out of you. You’d have been too exhausted for nightmares after that." Jace said before heading for the shower stall._ _

__Actually Samuel hadn't wanted to linger in the shower, but Jace's provocative words screamed for a reaction though he should be above such things. Instead he obstructed the way of the other, who was coming towards him, gaining a questioning and interested expression._ _

__“What happened back then on Kadara remains a one-time thing, Atrix. You can have as many fantasies as you want, you will play them out with someone else.” He spoke calmly, but the undertone was cold._ _

__Jace was not Varius, as Samuel noted who laughed softly before looking back at Samuel: “Cute, your protest, although you damned well liked it. My _golus_ in your mouth in particular, what a sight that was. You came about five times. Maybe next time we will have fun with lesser alcohol."_ _

__Samuel clenched a fist and gritted his teeth behind closed lips, tensing his jaws, giving it a serious consideration to beat up Jace right here, right now. _No, remain calm. This is beyond you!_ He exhorted himself, gently shook his head and avoided Jace's gaze. Why exactly was he talking to this guy about such subjects?_ _

__"Whatever." He muttered although he wanted to say ‘fuck you’ but Jace could get the idea this was an invitation, soe wanted to move on, but now it was Jace who stopped him.  
"Do you know how much Varius loves you?" He asked._ _

__Samuel stopped dead in his tracks not only because of the question, but also, or above all, because of the sudden seriousness in Jace's words and eyes, who returned his gaze thunderstruck, not knowing what he could possibly reply. So Jace continued to speak._ _

__“He would kill for you as much as he would die. Without hesitation, at least that's how I see him now. He really wants you to be together, a solid relationship. I've only seen him like this once, with his old partner who was a failure, but you're not like him. Besides …" he tilted his head a little, “you are actually a very nice couple. "_ _

__"No." Samuel said firmly. "We are not a couple and we will not- .."  
Jace interrupted: "because of that angara, I suppose?"_ _

__Samuel looked at him a little confused, hesitated with his answer, which he then formulated in a somewhat sharper tone: "That’s none of your business."_ _

__"It is my business, when my best friend suffers so much." Jace replied and took another step towards Samuel that he had to look up at him. Jace might be a little shorter than Varius, but he still was taller than Samuel, who at 1.75m was the average height of a tall drell. “I'm not into romance, but I know what loving is like in my species. And what it means to fight until you have your lover by your side. "_ _

__Samuel sighed. “And I’m told I’m stubborn.”  
“In the end, you are just a tiny creature in the vast universe that is looking for someone. Just like Varius.” Jace said.  
"How poetic." Samuel replied dryly and wanted to leave the room._ _

__"Wolfsbane"? Jace called and Samuel paused once again and looked at the turian.  
"Let me give you some advice. It is better not to touch this angara in the presence of Varius. And keep encounters businesslike."_ _

__Samuel looked at him in astonishment. Did he misheard? Slowly he felt anger rising inside but remained silent._ _

__Jace continued: "Your feelings. Keep them under control if you can. Especially your physical ones. Better if you don’t deal with this guy too much."  
"I can't remember having to ask Varius for permission if I want to meet with Saraan though I try to control my emotions." Samuel replied indignant. “And what do you mean by ‘especially your physical ones’?”_ _

__"You may recall the little turian mating behavior lesson. Turians sniff out their chosen mate, if he or she is willing. Even you cannot deny that."  
“I'm not willing!” Samuel protested, but Jace continued talking.  
"Oh yes, you are." Jace chuckled. "Anyway, if you emit this ... scent in the presence of the angara and Varius gets wind of it, it can get pretty damn ugly."_ _

__Samuel pulled his eyebrows together. "I hope for Talorian's sake he never does anything stupid."_ _

__Jace gently swayed his head back and forth: "he may not be able to control this. He may not even notice when he attacks de Kanos. Instincts can be hard to control for love-locked turians who definitely don't want to lose their mate. "_ _

__"I am **not** his mate! And neither will I be – not near, nor far, nor soon!" Samuel spoke outraged._ _

__"Try to convince Varius not me. I'm just warning you. It does not have to happen, but it can happen. Turians are predators, as you know. I believe there are similar behaviors on Earth with canis lupus."_ _

__"Sometimes I really get the impression that turians are like wolves. Even though they are often compared to birds of prey." Samuel sighed._ _

__What if Varius really lost control over himself and thought he had to defend or ...reclaim him? That would be a catastrophe. He prayed to the three gods that what Jace had prophesied would not happen or he would be able to prevent it._ _

__Samuel headed towards the door of the changing booth when at that very moment Varius came in, so that they almost ran into each other. Samuel however dodged, they looked at each other briefly, Samuel only nodded tightly, before he went on and Varius entered the changing booth, where he found Jace, who was standing there naked, looking at Varius. The look was returned questioningly._ _

__"Your little human is stubborn," Jace said.  
"Tell me about it." Varius replied and undressed to enter one of the shower cubicle._ _

__Jace looked on him without shyness, thoughtfully putting a hand on a mandible. He followed him before asking cheekily and with a seductive tone: "Should I take care of the pressure of last night, Vary? Your _caris_ is so unwilling and you are not a couple yet." _ _

__Varius just snorted loudly. The words didn't really please the rigger, so Jace just pushed himself into the shower cubicle and leaned on the other turian._ _

__"You seem to need it pretty bad yourself, huh?" Said Varius amused.  
"I do now, yes." Jace smiled darkly._ _

__Varius looked at his friend and a thin, predator-like grin ran down his mouth behind his mandibles. "Get on your knees."_ _

__

__Samuel walked through the complex of Techiix, which the angara called _daar_. When he was near the frozen river that ran through the mountain, he could hear shots and bark like orders. This did not worry him, as he knew that there was an area for impromptu combat maneuvers above the river and obviously one was just being rehearsed. He walked on, past the very large merchant kiosk, towards the hangar, following the path to the infirmary, where Saraan was currently located and where steward Eska Yeveth had her office. She had told him yesterday that she would give permission for him to enter the infirmary, but he was not sure if this had been passed on. He received the answer when he was stopped at the door of the infirmary by two angaran guards. _ _

__"Visits are prohibited to outsiders unless there is a relative in the infirmary. Said one of the two helmeted angara.  
"Do you have a relative in the infirmary?" The other asked.  
Samuel would not lie and denied.  
"Then please leave." Said the second guard._ _

__Samuel suppressed a sigh. He didn't want to mess with the guards, so he was just about to turn to walk when he suddenly saw Eska Yeveth coming along the way. She was obviously on her way back to her office when she saw Samuel standing in front of the two guards. She looked from one to the other, seemed to want to go on, but then, seeing Samuel, she probably remembered what she said yesterday._ _

__"Commander Wolfsbane has permission to visit Second Resistance Leader Saraan de Kanos." She said, whereupon the guards let Samuel in._ _

__Second Resistance Commander. That sounded, no, that was much higher and more important than Lieutenant. How did it come that Saraan was called lieutenant? He would ask him sometime._ _

__He thanked the steward and bowed curtly, who noticed this with subtle amazement, which she knew how to overplay, nodded to him and disappeared. He entered the infirmary and asked for Saraan. The angara woman sitting at the reception looked at the elf skeptically for a moment, but then showed him the way and gave him the room number. Samuel thanked her and hurriedly made his way to the room in front of which he stopped and took a deep breath. Like everywhere else, there were no door handles, something like this had not existed for a long time, the doors would also open if a line of contact was broken. Interrupted contact lines also triggered alarms, but that was a different matter. In any case, he would have actually put a hand on the door handle and held on to it. Somehow. Because he was actually nervous, maybe he was even a little afraid of what was waiting for him inside the room. Did Saraan even want him to visit him? If he was awake. Gods, he would never have thought like that, nor would he have visited anyone in an infimary in the past._ _

__Samuel pulled himself together and entered the room after the door had moved aside with a soft hissing sound. By now he was familiar with the angaran sickrooms. For angara there were special beds that strengthened and stimulated the natural bioelectric field that this species possessed, because this way wounds and diseases of the angara healed faster. The bioelectric field of the angara was a phenomenon for many scientists that was still being studied with great interest 10 years later. Samuel only knew this because a few months ago Teekoy had been of the opinion that he had had to mess with a angaran city guard on Aya, whereupon he had literally shocked him, because he had given him an electric shock that had torn the volus to the ground. Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa had later explained to Teekoy, along with the lecture, that it was a very stupid idea to annoy an angaran guard what this field was all about. It served as a defense, Samuel knew that much, but nothing more. Anyway, these beds supported the natural healing process._ _

__Although this infirmary was not as well equipped as the one on Aya, surgical operations could be performed here just as easily which immensely important because fighters with bullet wounds were often brought in. So Saraan was not an unusual patient in this sense. The professor and Second Resistance Commander lay in a rather simple bed without the bioelectric support and seemed to sleep. Samuel entered the room without making a sound and approached the bed to sit on a stool. He did not want to wake Saraan and so he remained sitting quietly, but now had the opportunity to take a closer look at the angara. A very close look._ _

__A blanket lay on the tall body, covering him up to his belly, around which a bandage was placed. In the middle, where the bullet wound was, the bandage was slightly bled through. Angara had no red but deep blue blood. Samuel hoped that Saraan was not in too much pain. The diamond eyes moved further up, to the man's chest, where the strange folds of flesh that grew on the sides of each angara's head ended, making the torso look as if Saraan was wearing a very short cape. The flesh folds were called _jinesh_ if he wasn’t mistaken. _ _

__Saraan didn’t wear a top, so Samuel could study every muscle, noticing they were very well-marked. His chest was very broad and his arms were no less muscular. For an angara he was extremely tall and strong and he looked very good. Samuel, who had sat down close to the bed and meanwhile had supported his head on one hand, his elbow resting on the edge of the bed, now looked at the face, the narrow, hard cut chin, the very prominent, equally sharply cut cheekbones, the flat nose, which in combination with the bulging head looked like the part of a helmet and yet somehow reminded him of the nose of a cat, although he did not know why. Saraan wore face painting, which he had from earlier times, when he had fought for the Roekaar. It was a thick and a very thin, slightly curved line, which ran from his jaws over his cheeks, over his eyes and over his head. This made him look very warlike. The lips of the great fighter had a slightly different color than his gray-blue face, they were rather purple, which emphasized them even more. Samuel's eyes remained a long time on the striking, beautiful face. Yes, Saraan was beautiful. Samuel sank completely into this sight and was no longer aware that he was looking at Saraan in this way, who seemed to have noticed a presence in the room, for his eyelids trembled gently before they lifted and the angara came to his senses. Slightly dazed he looked at Samuel._ _

__"Have you....started enough?" He asked in a low voice, but with a little amusement in it._ _

__Samuel was surprised like hell, wanted to get up immediately, slipped with his elbow from the edge of the bed and just managed to push one leg to the side to save himself from falling to the ground. Nevertheless, the whole thing looked very funny, so that Saraan giggled in amusement. Samuel sat up on his stool with an ashamed expression and folded his hands in his lap. He remembered that Saraan had said the same thing to him in the Repository of History when he watched him, only it was meant much more unkindly then than now._ _

__"E-excuse me. I did not want to wake you. Or stare at you." He said. "How are you doing?"_ _

__"The injury is quite painful, but fortunately they have good painkillers for that here." Saraan said truthfully. "I will survive, I was told." He smiled, but then he got more serious, "thanks to you."_ _

__"And thanks to Jossah. He flew as fast as he could and took the risk of arrest to bring you to Techiix." Said Samuel._ _

__"Thanks for coming with me." Saraan said. "And... please forgive me for betraying your trust. I should have informed you, but I was afraid that it would jeopardize my plans."_ _

__"Because you still do not trust me completely." Samuel said in a tone far from any accusation._ _

__"That has changed! Samuel. I.... I trust you." Saraan said immediately and then paused before laughing softly and leaning his head. Samuel looked at him questioningly. "By the stars, I never thought I.... would say this to an alien." He looked at the elf again, his deep blue eyes glowing. "You have...changed so much. You have changed... me." He said softly._ _

__Samuel felt Saraan's look make him nervous. He looked at his hands, which he rubbed together as he said: "I'm...just glad you turned the corner.”  
Saraan's face became questioning: "which corner? I never turned a corner and besides this is not possi-..." he paused and gurgled. "Oh, an idiom?"  
Samuel looked up and smiled thinly. "Yes, it means among other things: to have the strength to master something difficult. You have."  
Saraan nodded. "Oh, I see. Well, I've been through worse, you know. This is not the first shot that has wounded me. Another scar."  
Samuel just nodded "They remind us that the Gods have been weighing us down - or, as in your case, the stars and spirits.”_ _

__Saraan looked at the man with the pointed ears and noticed the injury at the corner of his mouth. A hematoma and a skin crack. Samuel didn't even seem to remember having a wound in his face, but rather seemed exhausted. The result of the hard blow he had received from the Roeshaar._ _

__"You look... _hasodyyl_ \- exhausted, very tired." Saraan noticed.  
Samuel nodded hesitantly and lowered his eyes. His lassitude seemed to be very obvious by now "I have been sleeping well since... well, I actually never sleep very well."  
"Why?" Saraan wanted to know.  
"Not important." Samuel replied._ _

__The angara looked at him piercingly, with his sapphire blue, shimmering eyes, infinitely deep and now so searching, looking for the answer Samuel did not want to give him._ _

__"I think it **is** important when someone like you... never sleeps well." He said.  
"Ha, someone like me." Samuel muttered and smiled tiredly.  
"Why can’t you sleep well?" Saraan picked up the topic again and Samuel looked at him again with a slightly doubtful look.  
"Why do you want to know?" The elf asked._ _

__Saraan looked at him with his searching, profound, yes, piercing look, giving the impression he could see into the deepest parts of the soul. For a torn apart soul like the one Samuel possessed it was an unpleasant look and at the same time he could not avert his gaze. He was always captivated by these beautiful, mysterious and fascinating angaran eyes, whose pupils were slit like cat eyes and which changed according to the incidence of light. Right now the pupils were bigger because the light was dull._ _

__"Because you are my _tavetaan_. I want to know more about you." He finally replied._ _

__Somehow Samuel felt that there was more in Saraan’s words than he said, but maybe that was just his imagination. Would Saraan let up if he refused again? Or would he be disappointed or even angry? Samuel managed to avert his gaze and looked down on his hands._ _

__"I have had nightmares for many years. Sometimes every night. That is why I sleep badly. Or not at all." He said.  
"And last night you had nightmares?" Saraan asked.  
Samuel affirmed and said: "that one I've had since..." he hesitated, "since then. Since the event I told you about."  
Saraan kept looking at him.  
"The other, however..." he was unwilling to say more. _ _

__But Saraan insisted. "Tell me about your nightmares."_ _

__Samuel looked up at him, suppressed a sigh and told Saraan about the nightmare he had been having for so many years. The one about the burning building, the redheaded girl who stared at him before the flames devoured her and him subsequently. Saraan was silent and continued to look at him attentively._ _

__Since the other one didn’t say anything, Samuel continued to speak in a rougher voice: "earlier, just before I woke up, I dreamed something else. A new nightmare. Your...sister Garuhna had stood before me. And told me that you died last night from your injuries."_ _

__Samuel looked up when he felt a touch on his shoulder. Saraan had stretched out an arm and put his hand on the shoulder of the elf._ _

__"Were you so worried about me?" He asked, softly, so softly, he sounded so beguiling with his accent, the depth of his voice and that strange, subtly distorted sound that every angaran voice had and he probably didn’t have the slightest idea what his voice sounded like and what panacea it was only to listen to him. But now was not the moment to revel._ _

__Samuel nodded and lowered his eyes again. "I...think so, yes. I was worried." He spoke shyly. "I'm glad you survived anyway."_ _

__Saraan's eyes became bright when he heard these words, he wanted to sit up, even leave the bed as it seemed, but suddenly a sharp pain filled his belly, making him flinch and writhe as his face twisted. Samuel was quicker on his feet than he would have thought possible and supported Saraan, carefully pushing him back onto the bed, which had been set up in a sitting position._ _

__"Be careful." He said._ _

__But Saraan just laughed softly. "An alien...who is worried about a former Roekaar. And...I wonder why. Do you like me that much?"  
Suddenly Samuel was petrified. Petrified from this completely unexpected question. Saraans face became more serious in that very moment, or rather, more absent? He looked into the bright eyes of the other man, realizing that he was still holding him by his upper arms. He didn't really want to hold him, but he did, and kept Samuel from sitting down who looked at him with a questioning expression in his face. Then he realized: they were so close. Saraan felt a small fire light up inside his chest while his heart was starting to beat faster. _ _

__Saraan was still holding him and wondered: was it good what he did here, was it not dangerous what he felt? He was very fond of this extraordinary human. And apparently Samuel also liked him very much, even if he didn't say so. Should he take the risk and reveal his affection in his _taosovos_? The way angara shared their emotions through their natural bioelectricity. Words were not necessary at such a special moment. The very feeling said more than thousands of words and for some persons it was just overwhelming. Quickly the decision was made and he pulled Samuel into his arms, pressed him to himself as far as the pain would allow, closed his eyes. But just before he let his bioelectricity work on the other one, an alarming thought flashed through his mind: he could harm Samuel, because he still did not know much about human anatomy and physiology. _ _

__Samuel, on the other hand, felt frozen, didn't know what to do with this moment, didn't understand and yet understood and was completely overwhelmed. By the gods, he was confused. He wanted to break free but couldn’t, Saraan's intimate embrace flooded his mind. Suddenly a new heavy pain went through the angara’s abdomen, he pulled his face and groaned softly, and Samuel stood up, but Saraan, who put his hands on Samuel's upper arms, could already smile again._ _

__"Ouch." He murmured.  
"Maybe you should lie down...again." Samuel's voice was lost in nothingness as their gazes met again and in that moment it seemed as if space and time had lost their meaning._ _

__Suddenly they were closer than ever. The hug alone had been intense, but now being so close to the face, the lips of Saraan drove his entire being into chaos. By the gods, those eyes! Again he was completely submerged in this deep blue shimmer. Saraan looked back and it was as if the angara looked deep into his soul. The blue eyes twitched once between his eyes and his lips. And suddenly he bowed his head slowly and carefully towards Samuels._ _

__Samuel had the feeling that someone had filled his body with hot lead. He could not move, he could not think straight. Was this real? No, it couldn’t, this must be a weird dream. No, this was real! His heart was racing in his chest. He lowered his eyelids a little, did not retreat, could not. Did not want to? Saraan's lips were only millimeters away from his own, he could feel the warm breath on his upper lips. And he himself was burning._ _

__

__Suddenly the familiar hissing sound of a door opening made the moment shatter in an instant, at least for Samueö. He immediately retreated and straightened himself up, but what he noticed only now was that he held on tightly to the ceiling that lay on Saraan's legs. He looked to the door through which a female angara had just entered, probably a medical officer. She paused and looked at the two of them._ _

__"Oh, excuse me. _Layabe_ , I need to change your bandages." She said to Saraan, before looking at Samuel, "I'm sorry."_ _

__Samuel took a step back from the bad. He noticed how soft his knees had become. And his face was burning, oh, he felt as if he had just mutated into a tomato._ _

__"No, it's all right, I... don't want to disturb you any more." He murmured and hardly dared to look at Saraan, who in turn looked at him, and when he finally returned the gaze, the angara smiled weakly, making him blush even more.  
"I will probably have little to do for the next two weeks. So... I will probably be in the forests of Aya. Would you like to come and visit me?" Saraan asked.  
"If...there are no missions, yes." Samuel replied._ _

__He was so confused that he bowed to both angara, said goodbye and left the sickroom, not in a hurry, but calmly. Saraan looked after him in silence. Maybe he shouldn’t have tried to do what he wanted to do he wondered and felt confused._ _

__Samuel left the infirmary and when he thought he was alone for a moment, he leaned against the wall in the alley between the infirmary and the steward's office. He exhaled and closed his eyes. His heart was still racing and he felt really dizzy. _By the love of Kalahira, Arashu and Amonkira!_ Saraan had wanted to kiss him, he had really wanted to kiss him! _ _

__He felt more confused than ever before. A nagging feeling spread inside him. All these feelings weakened him increasingly. He was caught in a storm of sheer love-hate relationship with Varius, whom he wanted to chase away and yet have him around, who made him so confused, and what he felt for Saraan, who completely captivated him with his gentle power, his nature and his voice._ _

__And slowly he began to fear that he would not be able to withstand this emotional whirlwind any longer which meant he could put his team in greatest peril, like Varius did when he was so unfocused. Perhaps it was time to gain some distance. From both. Perhaps it was time for a _bosieh she’hirli _, a poisonous kiss from his master and soul brother, to dive into the depths of the eternal ocean for a while and find peace and contemplation there.___ _

_____ _ _ _


	36. Chapter 27: Raiding Rampaging Roeshaar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Action at the Northern Holding Site on Voeld

Samuel leaned the back of his head against the wall and paused for a few moments until he was sure he could walk without feeling he had to sit down. He detached himself from the wall, leaving the alley and the neighbourhood to head for the hangar. Although he no longer owned an omnitool, the probability that he found his crew mates at the P-Nomad or that they met there at the latest was high. He was right, Patricia and Varius were already on site, Varius came to meet him and typed something into his omnitool.

"Commander, the Nexus has called you." He said.  
"Make the connection." Samuel replied.

Arriving next to the open door of the vehicle, Samuel waited for Varius to make the connection to the Nexus. It took a few moments, then the omnitool projected the hologram of a female salarian, General Zirkin Sulbani.

"We couldn't reach you, Commander, what happened to your omnitool?" She asked.  
"It was destroyed during an... altercation with Roeshaar." Samuel replied. 

He had hesitated to mention the Roeshaar because Varius was standing next to him, but he decided for the truth and ignored his rigger. Why did he even care what the hell Varius thought?

"The Roeshaar." Repeated Sulbani. "You are still on Voeld, I suppose?"  
Samuel confirmed.  
"Rumour has it there's a Roeshaar base north of Techiix, can you confirm that?"  
Again, Samuel affirmed and added: "It is, however, a largely abandoned base, I counted about 12 persons."

"Then I have news for you. Scouts have a report," She stopped in the middle of her sentence and seemed to read something before continuing: "a report and a distress signal sent, apparently the base was approached last night by at least five shuttles that are not part of the Alliance and not the Resistance, we suspect they are reinforcements.”  
"Possibly the larger group we observed at the unidentified dig site." Samuel pondered aloud. "What about the distress signal?"

"That was deactivated shortly after it was sent. The scouts were probably in trouble for a short time, now the situation seems to be stable again. Your mission is to investigate this alleged Roeshaar base and look for the scouts. If it turns out that the Roeshaar obviously plan or undertake hostile actions there, you know what to do. Please be as discreet as possible.”

"Understood, ma'am." Samuel said.

This meant taking out the hostile angara there briefly, loudly and painlessly if possible. The shadows were in demand again. Somehow he welcomed the fact that he was allowed to be more of a silent death again and that he did not have to rush around with a firearm. That was all too loud for his taste.

"We'll send you a new omnitool, you have one day to prepare." Sulbani said at the end.  
"Yes, ma'am."

The hologram of the salarian faded and the link to the nexus was terminated.

"I bet one of my asari swords that's the Roeshaar we saw at that strange dig site." Samuel said thoughtfully.

That made perfect sense. Maybe that's why they were stationed in the former Northern Holding Site. But since when did the Roeshaar get involved in such a thing? Jace had asked the same question. Maybe they would find something if they infiltrated the site. Samuel was going through the team line-up in his head as Varius spoke.

"Our angaran... friend has lured you into a nest of Roeshaar." His voice sounded neutral - it was generally difficult to determine exactly which emotion was present in a turian through the flanging effect, but by now Samuel knew Varius' voice very well. Way too well due to some certain incidents.

"We got out. Saraan's cousin too. I'm not discussing my decision." Samuel replied coolly.  
Varius looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Understood, Talorian?" Samuel asked in a sharper tone. 

That he even had to mention that! Damn, he was the Commander, he should not even waste the mere thought of justifying himself. Varius already had far too much power over him. The rigger remained silent. 

Samuel kept on talking, he didn't want to provoke any unnecessary discussions. "Call the Phoenix, I need Trox and Thantos for this mission."

Varius did as he was told and shortly afterwards the hologram of Deen Watts, the co-pilot and navigator of the Phoenix, appeared and Samuel gave him instructions. He would undertake the mission together with Trox, Keni and Thantos – although drell detested the cold; Dr. Ven’Tisa would take care of Thantos before he would enter Voeld grounds. Patricia and Varius would return to the Phoenix, partly because Samuel desperately needed distance from Varius. Varius, for whom the relationship with his commander had meanwhile changed fundamentally, was not happy. But he too knew that certain things should continue to be treated discreetly, objectively and business-like, which is why he complied with the instruction to return to the Phoenix together with Patricia. 

In the late afternoon of that day the two of them prepared to leave, but Varius did not miss the opportunity to pull Samuel behind the P-Nomad in a last quiet and preferably unobserved moment. Samuel had followed him with a little confused expression on his face and now looked up at him, for they stood close together. Too close for Samuel.

"Try to take care of yourself, okay?" Said Varius, and had it not been for that unusual, irritatingly soft tone in his voice again, Samuel had probably just made some trivial comment. 

However, he murmured softly and lowered his eyes. "Yes, yes. I'll be careful, stop worrying." 

Varius raised a claw and stroked gently over the elf's cheek, who turned his head away.

"Quit it, Varius." He protested.  
"Hm, you don't call me by my last name anymore when you are angry with me." The rigger sneered.  
"Whatever." Samuel puffed and wanted to depart, but paused as Varius gently held him back.

It was uncomfortable, burning unpleasant, what followed then: Varius placed his claws gently in Samuel's neck, leaned his forehead against the other‘s forehead and stroked almost tenderly across his neck to his shoulders. This confused Samuel, more than he was already confused anyway. Panic grew inside him as he noted that strange feeling in his chest again, which brewed up like an ominous storm and threatened to take his breath away.

"Please, stop this." He sighed softly.  
"Never, not that I am getting closer and closer to my goal." Whispered the turian. But then he let him go.

At the same time, Samuel took a step back and looked at his rigger with a mixture of annoyance and confusion before he came to his senses. 

"Go with Potter to the Phoenix, we haven't got much time." He growled and left the makeshift hiding place behind the P-Nomad.

Only to find that it was probably not a hiding place. Not for Patricia, at least, who had apparently been watching what was going on behind the car the whole time. Samuel looked at her, she returned his gaze and obviously suppressed a grin. He, on the other hand, gritted his teeth behind closed lips, gave her a warning look and walked past her to leave the hangar. Patricia, her arms crossed in front of her chest, looked after him and finally dared to grin. When Varius came out from behind the vehicle, she turned to face him.

"We should write a romance novel about the two of you." She smiled.  
"Whatever." Varius replied, betting his modified sniper rifle that this ride would not be a quiet one as Patricia would be pestering him with questions.

Samuel spent his preliminary last night in Techiix on a camp bed somewhere in the quarters of the complex. He could have stayed another night in the _daar_ , but he decided not to take a four-bed room on his own out of courtesy, which was very convenient for the _daar_ owner, as four new guests were already waiting for accommodation. Jace had left Techiix and had returned to his ship as the Turian Division needed the services of the Paladin. Needless to say, Samuel did not get much sleep the following night; the nightmares made no difference where he slept or who was with him, they haunted him and made sure that he did not reach the SWS phase for more than half an hour. He was glad that he had found a camp bed, which was pretty much in the farthest corner of the complex, so he hardly frightened or irritated anyone.

The next morning, the P-Nomad, piloted by Keni, reached the hangar of Techixx and picked up Samuel, before heading to the coordinates, together with two angaran vehicles with six Heskaarl each and a shuttle with ten resistance fighters which had flown ahead for reconnaissance. Very soon they sent a message and reported what the scouts had told the day before: five shuttles had been discovered, former shuttles of the kett, clearly marked with the colours of the Roeshaar, indicating that there were about 25 to 30 angaran fighters.

The base was well fortified, the guns sharp and the number of enemies not at all contemptuous. Nevertheless, the attacking troops had a decisive advantage: thanks to Saraan, Samuel knew of the weakness in the high wall that had been raised around the Northern Holding Site and he knew where best to park the vehicles to hide them. Jake Goodwin received informations about the location of the communications room. Some es of the Heskaarl and resistance fighters were sceptical, even mistrustful at first of the statements made by an alien but could be convinced by mentioning the _Layabe_ , the Second Resistance Leader, who had gave him those vital informations a few days before.

Renewed scepticism emerged among some of the angara when Keni suggested sending their drones ahead for scouting the inner area before the teams would enter. While Keni was still in discussion with the leader of the resistance force, the rest of the fighters was working out a plan on how to infiltrate the facility most effectively. Jake Goodwin would jam the Roeshaar's communication and thus prevent any distress signal from reaching the outside world, or the Roeshaar from being able to reach each other and coordinate in the field. Samuel broke away from the group during the planning and went over to Keni and the angara to find out that the two of them were no longer arguing with each other but were talking in a more, well, familiar, way? Samuel couldn't find out about what the topic was for they immediately changed the subject when he joined them.

"Well, as I said, I think it's too risky to send the drones in there. If they're discovered or intercepted, they'll know where we are." Said the angara in a tone that told Samuel all too clearly that this was certainly not the subject of the debate with Keni just now.

"Look!" Keni reached into one of her bags and pulled out a palm-sized drone with a white casing, which immediately began to hover a little above her hand.

She let the drone float beside her, put her hands behind her back, shifted her weight more to one leg, tilted her head slightly and looked at the leader through the visor of her helmet, a gesture a young girl liked to make.

"Let me try. Please?" She said sweetly.

Samuel watched her for a few seconds and suppressed a smirk as he watched the angaran leader, who apparently either let himself be lulled by this scam or seemed convinced he had a competent rigger in front of him. In any case, he finally sighed and gave in, whereupon Keni typed an order into her omnitool and the drone rose into the cold air against the cloudy sky in no time where it soon was no longer visible to the naked eye within seconds. Once it was completely out of sight, it could not be found again, thanks to its casing, which was perfectly integrated into its surroundings. Meanwhile, the angaran leader went back to the fighters and the special forces. Samuel and Keni followed him a few moments later.

"That was really good." Samuel acknowledged.  
"Piece of cake as you humans say. Look pretty, pretend to be an innocent nice girl and they eat out of your palm." The quarian chortled.  
“Really?” The commander pulled an eyebrow.  
Keni nodded. “Indeed. So I often made quite good progress.”  
“Then this was just no real flirt.”  
“Oh, of course not!” Keni chuckled.  
“I’m sorry, I usually don't really deal with emotions and the use of them.” _That was why his habitual inner world was breaking apart, since the crap had started with Varius and since he knew Saraan,_ Samuel added in his thoughts.  
“Oh, yes, I can see that, no offense, Commander.” Keni affirmed.

 _By the gods, if even the crew member who hadn't been on board long had noticed that_...he finally had to end this drama and maybe send Varius away. Be that as it may, Samuel chased away all thoughts of his two nemesis. That Keni was not an innocent lamb had actually been clear, after all she was a pirate.

"I guess I'll have to be careful with you, then." Samuel smiled narrowly.  
"Ah, don't worry, Commander. I'll always be honest with you!" She promised.  
“Hope so.” He answered.

Keni's drone was indeed able to explore the area behind the wall without being disturbed at first, not a single Roeshaar caught sight of the flying, almost invisible object. Samuel knew where the communications room was located, but what was more interesting for the Heskaarl and the resistance fighters was the number of potential enemies and their position, as well as the exact positions of the shuttles. While counting and locating them, they discovered various crates that had just been taken from one of the five shuttles. The angaran leader became aware when he saw a Roeshaar carrying a long gilded, richly ornamented pole with a sharp, artfully forged blade at one end. Samuel immediately thought of an naginata, the Japanese pole weapon which was mixed with some arabic quarterstaff. 

The drone was also able to take a good shot of an open box that contained strange cubic objects, stones and other things that the aliens did not know and were even unknown to many of the angara present. Saraan might have known what it was all about if Samuel had thought about it. In any case, it was now certain that these Roeshaar had been active at the alien excavation site. 

It was a coincidence that the drone took a picture from a corner of the base where some different looking angara were being held. It must have been the scouts who had been observing the camp. They had been captured? No one had known anything about it! They were trapped in some kind of force field, similar to the cages that were once used by the kett. So the scouts had indeed been attacked and captured and their distress signal that they had sent out had been deactivated by the Roeshaar.

"The Roeshaar will probably execute the scouts!" Growled the leader of the Heskaarl: "We must strike immediately, maybe we can still save them.”

The previously planned procedure was as follows: Trox would storm the camp with the Resistance fighters for distraction while the Heskaarl, Keni and the adepts would use the crack in the wall to get in. There the two adepts and Keni would break away and sneak to communications, while the Heskaarl would join the Resistance fighters and occupy the enemies. Two resistance fighters, who also had excellent tech skills, would deal with the guns, Keni, if there were any, would control the drones and support the Phoenix Decker once communications was reached. Jake Goodwin would hack into the camp's communication and surveillance systems from the Phoenix.

Before they went into battle, Samuel and Thantos retreated for a moment to pray and tune in, for this fight would require their combined skill and blind reliance on each other. Thantos sensed and knew that Samuel was not focused as usual and urged him to pay more attention for now it was time to concentrate on what was immediately ahead. The prayer, mainly addressed to Amonkira, Lord of Hunters, was hold in drell style, with the traditional gesture of hands folded together in front of the chest, and when finished they hurried after the other fighters. Just before they reached them, Thantos stopped his _paratan_ by placing one hand on his shoulder so that Samuel looked at him.

"You are getting weaker and weaker. Be on your guard, _paratan_." The husky voice penetrated the elf's ear, who only nodded softly.

He suspected that one of the reasons was the implant, which suppressed his powers. He would not be able to stand this condition for long.

The plan worked. Samuels discarded his idea very early on to find a somewhat bloodless, though not really peaceful, solution and to be able to comply with Sulbani's request to proceed "as discreetly as possible". From the very first moment on, the Roeshaar offered bitter resistance and fought their people with the same hardness as the aliens. Not one of them seemed to be willing to flee when the number of the Roeshaar was drastically reduced, because the Resistance and especially the Heskaarl were no less brutal than the krogan. Fanatically, the Roeshaar pounced on the attackers, fired and even attacked with the strange golden bladed quarterstaffs. Very quickly the Heskaarl in particular had fought their way into the interior of the complex with an impressive and no less merciless manoeuvre, reaching the plateau on which the building with the communication room was located and which formed roughly the centre of the camp, before the Roeshaar forced them to entrench themselves by heavy fire. 

Samuel and Thantos could perceive the fierce exchange of fire around, which together with the battle roar of a krogan rose to a martial staccato. They secretly made their way towards the communications building, taking advantage of the loud distraction of Trox to get past the enemy largely unseen. With Keni in tow, who was not quite as agile and acrobatic but fast, they left most of the roofs off and prepared a safe route for the quarian to the communications room by running ahead, quickly and quietly eliminating potential enemies before they gave Keni a signal to follow. Once the communications room was reached and secured, Keni immediately took care of setting up a connection for Jake.

 _"Will take a while to get the guys' weapons, try not to get shot!"_ Jake informed his crew members and the Commander via helmet microphone.

Thantos and Samuel left the building using one of the windows to make their way to the cage with the scouts, while Keni stayed and worked with Jake on the electronics and comms. The one was like the shadow of the other, they were perfectly attuned that one could literally follow in the other's footsteps as they moved forward, almost giving the impression that there was only one person on the way. However, they were able to enter the back of the camp unhindered, where Keni's drone had pinged the cage. 

They climbed up one of the buildings and crawled to the edge to peer down where they discovered the orange shimmering force field in the shape of a square. Three angara were sitting on the ground, most likely the suspected scouts. In front of the cage stood two armed and armoured Roeshaar, seeming only moderately alert. Luck for the two adepts. Thantos looked at his soul brother. 

"You distract them." He ordered. 

The elf obeyed and they left the building, Thantos descended into the narrow alley between this and the neighbouring building and Samuel, much more obviously, jumped down from the roof into the snow. The two Roeshaar immediately noticed the movement with the sensors of their helmets, turned, took aim and began to shoot at the slender figure dressed in black, who ran past in a crouched position, nimbly jumping behind a crate. 

Samuel briefly dared to look behind and widened his eyes when he saw the bullet holes in the ground. _Holy shit, what were those guys shooting with?_ He didn't know much about heavy weapons, but the holes there could have been cut into the ground by an M-490 Blackstorm. Damn, where did an angara get such a weapon? No time to think about that, the next volley pierced the box he had been hiding behind and forced him to rush on. With his comparatively small N7 Hurricane SMG pistol he was less impressive, but it still killed when it hit. However, he only had to distract the guards and make sure he wasn't riddled.

Samuel took cover once more, then shot from his hiding place towards the Roeshaar and actually hit one of them, but that didn't seem to impress him much. Gods, he hated firearms, but with his swords he couldn't get any further here. Two huge volleys were the answer to Samuel's shots, they tore the air and hit the box, which was almost pulverised, forcing Samuel to flee again. His advantage was his immense speed and agility, or had always been, but – what he didn’t recognized first – the implant was slowly beginning to cause significant side effects. And just such a side-effect appeared now of all times. In the moment he took a run-up to the next crate, which was much closer to the two guards, with the intention of jumping over it and firing downwards in some flyby attack, a stabbing pain ate into his head, starting from his neck, making him stumble badly, fall and crash into the box with full force. 

Heavily dazed, he sank down and pulled a face, as the headache did not go away. Moaning, he grabbed his head, incapable to act. Precious seconds elapsed, his body was still in the grip of pain and dizziness and when he finally felt the torture wear off, the two Roeshaar appeared directly in front of him and pointed their Blackstorms - damn, that really were Blackstorms - at him. Samuel froze, hearing the high-pitched sound that the deadly weapon made when energy was collected, saw the red light in the black of the broad barrel and could do nothing about it as he waited for the massive bang that would most likely be the last sound he would ever hear in his life.


	37. Chapter 28: Ancient and Old Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ancient weapons cause Samuel to have a vision and the later training with Thantos proves to be very fruitless, yet painful. Thantos also tells of his secret romance with a turian spectre back in the Milky Way days, which unfortunately came to a tragic end.

There was no banging. Instead, there was the sound of dying electronics and then the confused babble of the two angara. Samuel, who had closed his eyes - a stupid reflex - dared to open them and found that he was not yet on his way to Kalahira’s eternal shores. He didn't have time for a shove prayer to Arashu for presumably being the one responsible for disabling the weapons' electronics at the right time; he took advantage of the Roeshaar's confusion and immediately fired one shot each at the attackers, knowing that it wouldn't kill them, but hopefully distract them. The two staggered back, cursing and lunging at Samuel, now to misuse their deactivated firearms as bludgeons, but by then the now-ready-for-action adept had nimbly hustled off to the side, so the attackers initially only thudded dully against the crate.

Almost at the same moment, a dark shadow appeared behind the two, whereupon only a moment later several muffled shots rang out and one Roeshaar collapsed. Surprised, the other turned around and thus received the shots in the unarmored throat, whereupon he also collapsed and remained lying on the ground. Above the two figures, Thantos stood and lowered his firearm. He looked at Samuel, who was straightening up. They were both wearing helmets with darkened visors that protected against snow blindness, but Thantos could guess the expression on his _paratan's_ face: that had been a damn close call.

"Sorry, we missed a Roeshaar." Said the drell, holstering his pistol. His voice sounded even stranger through the helmet microphone.

The two hurried to the cage and Samuel contacted Jake so he could pick the electronic lock. The scouts were immediately on their feet when they saw the two black-clad Alliance fighters, and as soon as Jake managed to pick the lock and Samuel deactivated the force field, they jumped out of their prison. They didn't have much time to talk, a group of Roeshaar came running and started shooting at the remaining scouts and the two adepts while still in full sprint. One of the scouts was hit and collapsed directly before his killer received a shot from Samuel. Two scouts and the two Alliance fighters fled under heavy fire into one of the warehouses to seek cover. No sooner had they closed the gates than they heard a fierce barrage begin to rage outside and so they decided to stay under cover for now.

Minutes later outside, it had become quiet and furthermore no one seemed to have raised the alarm or noticed that the four had fled into the warehouse, and there was no enemy contact inside the warehouse either, which would have fit about three P-Nomads. One of the two scouts was wounded and was supported by his comrade and by Thantos, while Samuel sent a radio message informing the other fighters of their position. The situation in the camp seemed to be slowly stabilizing, parts of the Roeshaar had finally made their escape, so it was possible to take a moment to catch their breath and make a cursory inspection of the hall. After a rough survey, Samuel discovered two crates, one of which had been opened, or rather broken open. On the floor lay one of those strange old weapons. While Thantos and the unwounded scout tended to the injured man, Samuel walked over to the crates.

"We should secure these crates for the Repository of History." He said, causing the angara to look over at him.  
"I saw a weapon like this in a record once. They are at least a thousand years old or even older." Said the wounded scout, then groaned in pain as Thantos applied the medigel.

"Surely the curator will-…!”

Samuel reached out a hand for the weapon lying on the floor after he had crouched down, intending to put it back in the box. No sooner had his fingers touched the cool metal of the staff than his mind was torn from this world. He gasped in fright and fell to his knees, wanting to let go of the weapon but was unable to. He widened his eyes, opened his mouth to a silent scream. The world went pitch-black for seconds, for hours? Time was gone. Then, all at once, a beautiful ring of thousands and thousands of stars lit up in the blackness. And suddenly a figure of light appeared before him: an angara with snow-white skin and brightly shining, pupil-less eyes, who stood there sublimely and looked with a determined expression in a certain direction. Samuel was captivated by this sight, unable to move, to speak, to think. Strange feelings overwhelmed his mind, thoughts in a language he did not know flooded, impressions drowned his mind.

Frozen, breathing heavily, he knelt there staring into space, at least that's what the two angaran scouts could observe, and what they could still see was how the drell toppled to the side almost at the same moment, but caught himself with his hands as Samuel went down. Due to the soul connection to Samuel, he saw what his brother saw, was equally caught up in this vision until it came to its end.

Thantos was the first to regain his senses, and it was probably mainly because one of the two scouts shook him by the shoulder. He rose, groped with a swaying step toward his _paratan_ , who was on his knees, panting softly, and raised his head when the drell touched him on the shoulder.

"What...was that?" He asked.  
"A vision, it seems to me." Thantos replied. "Now we really should meet with the Moshae."

Moshae Nohvala, successor of Moshae Sjefa, had granted an audience to the human and the drell three days after the incident on Voeld and had asked Samuel to report in as much detail as possible what he had seen. Samuel had mentioned not only the vision, but also the dream he had had while lying in a coma, in which he had first encountered this figure of light. He had told the Moshae about the cave with the luminous lichens, about the strange ancient columns, the luminous stone slabs in the floor and about the melody he had heard again and again. Now the most impressive vision for him had been this one. Moshe Nohvala promised to do some research, maybe something could be found out about this vision and especially about this white angara. She recommended, however, to inquire also in the Repository of History, the curator there probably knew much better with the weapons and their history.

Thantos, who was standing next to Samuel, had to stifle a grin and therefore lowered his head a little, watching his brother furtively while he talked to the Moshae. When the latter explained to him that the curator was much more intensively involved with the whole matter and that he should be the preferred person to visit, the white-haired elf faltered for a small moment and his eyes lit up.

"The curator, you say?" Said Samuel.  
"Yes, he will be able to help you. Of course, I will also see if anything can be found in the archives, but when it comes to angaran history, the Repository and Professor de Kanos is the first place to go." Nohvala answered.

The two aliens bowed respectfully and thanked each other before leaving the Moshae premises. Samuel smiled to himself while outwardly appearing as composed as ever. This was a wonderful reason to visit Saraan, he thought to himself. But perhaps he was at the infirmary, still recovering from his injury? He wanted to visit him anyway, Saraan was even waiting for it.

As they walked side by side outside, Thantos asked with subliminal amusement: "would you like to go to the Repository alone and question the dear professor?"

Asking the question was redundant by itself; Samuel's reaction was obvious to those who knew him inside and out, no matter how restrained he pretended to be. He looked at his drell brother, who didn't even let him get a word in edgewise, but smirked.

"I'm going back to the ship, don't forget our training!" He reminded him.  
"I won't, _shaday_." Samuel replied.  
"I'll bash you if you forget." Thantos threatened, to which Samuel smiled wryly.  
"You ‘ll never manage that." Before he caught it Samuel took care to get out of the drell’s reach.

It did not take him very long to get to the repository, however, in a way he experienced a disappointment when he was explained that the curator would not be present for the next week due to health reasons. The questions about the white angara could not be answered by the deputy curator Amira Kjar, daughter of Avela Kjar, but the described antique weapons had arrived in the meantime, but they were stored in the repository and nobody had access to them except those working here in the repository. Looked like he would have to wait a while longer to talk to Saraan about these strange events and the weapons. Perhaps he was at home with his family, resting? Samuel left the repository and made his way to the marketplace while struggling with the thought of making a detour to Saraan's family home.

"You look like you ate a spoiled quilloa." A feminine, slightly distorted-sounding voice interrupted his musings.

Samuel looked into the round face of a female angara he couldn't place at first, and she seemed to notice. "Oh, you don't recognize me anymore, I am Khjona al Vidas, the sister of Garuhna."

Samuel fairly raised both eyebrows. "Oh, uhm..." he was embarrassed that he didn't remember. If he were a drell, he probably would have recognized her. "It's nice to... see you again?"

Kjohna smiled mildly. "You met just about everyone in our family that night and probably couldn't possibly remember all names and faces."

Samuel nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's true, yet I apologize."  
"You don't have to." Said Khjona, adding in a somewhat teasing way, "as long as you remember my brother."  
Samuel hoped he wasn't blushing now and asked instead: "how is he?"

Khjona's expression became more serious. "He got a high fever in the infirmary on Voeld because his wound got infected. They kept him there longer because of that, tonight he will be taken to the infirmary here on Aya for further treatment."

Samuel felt something as if he were being crushed inside. This news was not what he expected, what he had hoped for – and his inner reaction was not what he had wanted but nothing he could control. He immediately remembered the nightmare he had had on Voeld when Garuhna told him about Saraans death. He remained as calm as ever, hiding his inner self as always.

"Would...you inform me as soon as he is here? Or at least as soon as he's better?" He asked almost shyly.  
And this manner made Khjona chuckle softly. "Of course. If I won't inform you, I'm sure my sister will."

He thanked Khjona for the short conversation and the information, which she certainly did not share with every alien, and left the market, heading for the spaceport. Thantos was waiting for him in the ship and because he was late in Thantos' estimation, he was “allowed” to carry all the weapons. Even more so after Samuel had complained that he was by no means late. Under the amused looks of Samara the two adepts left the ship and went a few kilometres deep into the forests of Aya.

"You're scattered, completely unfocused." That was Thantos' verdict after about an hour of training together.

Samuel stood there trying in vain to stop the flow of blood pouring from his nose. It wasn't broken, but the blow had stung and had been painful. So had the harsh punch to his side. Thantos had knocked him out with a relatively simple but effective and very fast fist-sidewinder-combination. Of course he didn't apologize for hurting his _paratan_ and Samuel didn't demand, that would be among the very presumptuous things he could afford to do. He was, as Thantos said, unfocused and had received the punishment for it. The drell approached him and nudged him but Samuel refused to be pushed back.

"What's wrong with you?" His _shaday_ asked, sounding very reproachful.  
"Nothing, damn it, don't you start asking annoying questions too." The elf groused.

Samuel didn't want to talk about it, however, Thantos wasn't Samara or Varius who would eventually be brushed off and yet he tried. The reaction was almost expected when Thantos grabbed him by the collar and twisted the fabric in his fists in such a way that Samuel ran out of breath and screwed up his face. He immediately grabbed the drell's wrists, who only tightened the stranglehold in response.

"I'm not your sister, moderate your language or Dr. Ven'Tisa will have more to doctor up later." He threatened.

Samuel had never fought Thantos with the intention of really hurting him in a lasting way. For a moment he toyed with the idea, but dropped it. It would be a tremendous mistake. Possibly he could put his soul brother, his brother out of action as quickly as he had put him out of action, but he did not want to conjure up what would follow. There were times when he had hated to submit, by now it was not too big a deal, no matter how unpleasant a preceding situation might be. Thantos felt the pressure around his wrists abruptly decrease until his _paratan_ resignedly released him. Thantos then released the stranglehold, turned away and went to the place where they had put their weapons and omnitools. He took his, strapped it on, returned to Samuel and tended to the laceration in his nose to stop the flow of blood.

"Now speak." He demanded calmly.

Samuel held still, thinking for a moment about how Samara would shriek now if she saw him completely covered in blood, which was kind of an amusing notion when Thantos told him to talk. Emotions. They were the main problem. And _the two_ that caused them. Varius and Saraan, those two. Who were blithely, whether willfully and persistently like Varius or possibly not even as consciously as Saraan, dissolving his world of discipline, emotion-barrenness and asceticism into its constituent parts, laying his nerves bare and driving him slowly but surely towards a nervous breakdown. These two, and at the moment above all his chief engineer and sniper, gave him sleepless nights and made sure that a training session turned into a beat-up-your- _paratan_ -session. They sat under the tree, under which they had put their belongings.

"You can't get Varius out of your head." Thantos opined after listening to Samuel's explanation of his condition. "And neither does Saraan. You're torn by feelings toward both of them. That's not good."  
"Oh?" Samuel snorted "I've been there."

He was fretful for he didn’t sleep well and knew he wouldn’t in the nights coming. But Thantos wouldn't tolerate it, judging by the blow he placed right where he'd already hit Samuel hard before. The latter contorted his face with a pained groan and doubled over. An insult almost escaped his lips, but he swallowed it in time.

"You-...!"  
Thantos looked at him from the side. "I - what?" He asked stoically, just waiting to take another swing at Samuel.

Sometimes Samuel had the impression Thantos took pleasure in inflicting pain on him. Somewhere there might be a little sadistic ass in the vain old crock. Oh, it was a good thing the drell couldn't read his mind, he would have beaten the crap out of him by now. And that's because of the vain and old.

"You're right." Samuel finally muttered.  
"I'm always right." Said Thantos with dignity.

Samuel gave his _shaday_ a sideways glance. Gods, it was really hard to control himself! He swallowed another caustic comment and Thantos knew it perfectly well. Saraan had once asked him if Thantos hit him when he had revealed to him that he was seen a slave amongst archaic drell and hanar, and he had denied it. Actually, he should correct that now, but the thought of Saraan saddened him again. And there they were again, those incredibly disturbing, paralyzing, distracting feelings. Samuel leaned against the tree trunk and sighed softly. He didn't notice Thantos watching him.

"You might want to give in and let Varius win." He said unexpectedly.  
Samuel immediately straightened up and glared at his soul brother. "What, are you crazy?!" A muffled sound, a pained groan, and Samuel slumped. "That was...intent you...sadistic... _cimmaal_." Samuel groaned.  
Thantos stared at him all at once. "What did you just call me?!"

Samuel returned Thantos' gaze sullenly. He would not now take back the fact that he had called him an old crock in Drell. The next blow that followed was of such force that Thantos would have broken his ribs had Samuel not blocked it.

"Will you stop trying to beat me up?!" The elf hissed.  
"You're really asking for it today, though." Thantos replied, settling back into a comfortable pose. "But I meant it."  
Samuel shook his head. "Absolutely not."  
"Why not?"  
"You don't seriously ask that now." Samuel stared as his _paratan_.  
"Yes, I am."

Samuel sighed and leaned in again as well. Thantos, meanwhile, continued to speak.

"Maybe it would even help you if you were together. Then you would have another focus...another source of power, that kind of thing is important. In the end, we're here in Andromeda, after all, because we're looking for a place, a place, a person to spend our lives with after the fighting and competing has died down. As you know, I was once with a turian."

Samuel nodded gently. "No official relationship then." He murmured.  
"Unfortunately, yes. Had it come to light, it would have outraged more than a few turian and drell. Especially the drell, since same-sex love is not very welcome, due to our rather low turn out population." Thantos said.

"You probably would have made your relationship public here in Andromeda." Samuel conjectured. "If I recall correctly, you told me that your partner back then was as persistent as... well, as Varius is with me now."

Thantos nodded.

"And you just gave up at some point?"  
Thantos nodded again. "I had never been set on having a committed relationship, certainly not with a turian. A male turian."

Samuel watched Thantos, seeing a slight smile play around his lips as he looked out of black eyes into the Aya sky punctuated by branches and leaves. Thantos had been very young then, when he had met his mate in a bar on the Citadel, to which he had followed his target, who was to become the victim of his mission. There must have been something about Thantos, perhaps just the hunky charismatic manner of a drell, that had attracted the turian's attention. He had approached Thantos, unintentionally distracting him to such an extent that he had lost sight of the target and never found him again. The mission had failed then and Thantos had been furious.

" _Al'abeb_.” A drell word for beloved one. “He showed up at my apartment door a few days later and, in all seriousness, held out Rhakana roses to me. Rhakana roses!" Thantos laughed softly. "I was so perplexed that I took them and let him in when he asked if he could come in. He was incredibly nervous."

Samuel smiled weakly. He had his head propped on one hand and was listening. He knew the story, but it was rare that Thantos ever talked about his past, especially his relationship.

"For months I didn't know what to do with his advances at the time and didn't respond. But he didn't let up, just like Varius - turians are persistent, you should have noticed that by now. Then one evening he sent me an invitation to come to the gardens of the Presidium, I would be let through without question. I was suspicious, but in fact no one stopped me, admittedly I didn't take the official routes for the most part. I didn't know he was a spectre, but he revealed that to me that evening when we were alone in an area of the garden where, of all things, Rhakana roses were blooming. He also told me that night that he loved me. It took my breath away then."

Samuel nodded in understanding. He had felt the same way when Varius had told him just that, that morning on Kadara. He continued to listen as Thantos continued his narrative, feeling his heart grow heavier from that moment he heard the words, brooding set in again, feeling the inner turmoil.

"He said he wanted us to be together, although he knew it would not be easy. But he could hardly think of anything else in his spare minutes, he said. I struggled with myself for a long time, neglecting my chores and duties, until I made my decision and asked him to join me in my abode. That night, he never went home." Thantos smirked thinly. "Our relationship remained hidden, but whenever we met it was as if two splinters that belonged to each other had rejoined. We were one. We didn't know we were looking for each other until we found each other. Two parts of one and the same. Whenever I was with him, I felt complete. Complete."

Thantos paused again and Samuel saw melancholy take over his soul brother. Complete, Samuel repeated in his mind.

"At some point, however, we began to drift apart, his obligations as a spectre and mine as an assassin consuming us more and more. Nevertheless, we kept in touch as often as possible, at least in writing. And then ...he was ordered on a mission to Eden Prime and the night before the day he’d leave he said to me that he had a surprise, he would give to me when he came back." His voice sounded more fragile than before. The memories of that evening and what followed obviously still hurt. "He never came back, as we know. He died on Eden Prime."

Samuel regarded the other man for a moment, hesitating only briefly. Then he moved to Thantos and pulled him into his arms. Thantos let it happen, leaning his head into the crook of the elf's neck and snuggling against him.

"One can fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time. I grieve for him, yes. But I am grateful for the time I was able to have with him. Grateful that I made the right decision. Grateful that I never regretted it. Grateful for having felt love." Thantos spoke softly. “A different love than the one for you, I mean.”

Samuel nodded in understanding and remained silent. He was happy for Thantos that he had had this experience and he was equally sad that his great love had been taken from him. But how should, how could he himself proceed? How, for the gods sake?

"Stop thinking so much and just feel. Your heart already knows what it wants." Was Thantos’ advice.  
"I...don't know if it really does, Thantos." Murmured Samuel.  
"I think it does. There will come a moment when you realize, all at once, what you feel. And for whom, it will hit you like a fist."  
Samuel smiled wearily. "As long as your fist won't hit me again."  
"Maybe I will." The drell replied teasingly before breaking away from Samuel and standing up. "Now get up, I want to see some more decent figures!"

With figures Thantos meant exercise forms, often artfully executed, originating from various martial arts directions of the earth such as Kung Fu, respectively Wushu, Karate, Tai Chi, as well as various styles of the Seheron Nhaga of the drell. Some would see a downright dance, because quite aesthetic was what the white-haired elf presented a little later on the meadow, in the dawning light of the ending day, while his master and brother watched him or alternately meditated, before the two returned to the Phoenix at nightfall and at least the day came to an end. Samuel suspected that, despite the training, it would be a long night for him, for very soon his thoughts were back with Saraan. And the worries about him awoke anew.

Vision of the Prophet


	38. Chapter 29: Elaaden Missions 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A criminal hanar has vital information and is willing to hand them over - for a price.

The year in the human calendar had changed with that omnious Christmas party, organized by Samara Wolfsbane and Patricia Potter and a new one had begun.

It was time to concentrate on new tasks and missions and if one had feared that there was too little to do: the APEX headquarters virtually showered the individual teams with missions after it had become generally known that there was increased activity on the part of the New Order. A new mission led to Elaaden. Turian weapon fixer and info broker Caliria Andrascus was part of the chosen team so she could spin on the heel and fly back with Nakmor Trox Ghurak, Varius Talorian and her APEX Commander Samuel Wolfsbane. Thantos was still ailing and Trox had insisted on coming along to New Tuchanka, for krogans needed a krogan was his argument.

The team was to track down and root out a drug smuggling gang, because drug trafficking had increased rapidly in recent months and Elaaden was one of the main distributors. According to Samara, the krogan colony behaved ambivalently in this matter, officially condemning this trade, rejecting it, but nevertheless tolerating the trade around New Tuchanka. That in turn caused diplomatic tensions with the Nexus, which always wanted to act as paragon.

Caliria knew one of the questionable traders to start the research with, she knew questionable traders in general, they just happened to be the best informants if you paid them accordingly, she reasoned.

On the Nexus it was generally not appreciated to cultivate such contacts or, if members of the Alliance even displayed such ambitions, however, Samuel knew that the Alliance also had its dark side, often lived out a certain double standard and liked to pretend to be holier than the Pope. This did not mean that Samuel constantly tolerated semi-legal activities of his crew members or let himself be involved in such matters but it sometimes was necessary. Besides Caliria knew she could talk Samuel easier in going the semi-legal or illegal way for he was a former shadowrunner and knew that there were ways to get informations and goods without all the bureaucracy: everything was negotiable. That didn’t mean he was always open for such things.

"Let me do the talking." Caliria said after the team reached New Tuchanka and walked along the merchant mile. "It's best if you all keep your distance a bit, so this doesn't look like a raid." She thought for a moment and added, "best to pretend we don't even belong together."

"You're disowning us? Now that really hits me." Samuel said ironically.

"Isn't usually his part to say something like that?" Caliria asked teasingly, nodding towards Varius.

"Go." Samuel muttered somberly.

Caliria made her way to the merchant, a human. Samuel, observing goods from a food vendor, glancing to the turian, could see the merchant's reaction: he knew that "yes, I'm so sorry, but!" facial expression well. Caliria usually knew what she was doing and seemed to be able to manage things. She left the merchant and headed towards a small square, Samuel followed her shortly after and a little later Trox and Varius appeared.

"So.” Caliria began and sighed, "I am to say this: the merchant knows nothing. He doesn't know anything about any ominous deals, since he is very honest and doesn’t sell hot stuff. He also doesn't know that some of his customers like to hang out at the Blood Brawl in the former Flophouse." Her tone resembled that of a child who just repeated what an adult had told her for the hundredth time. "And even if he did know, his name or location should not come up under any circumstances."

"Too bad the dealer doesn't know anything." Varius opined.

"What and where is the Flophouse?" Samuel asked.

"The Flophouse is a former large scavengers base. Enemies were shot there on sight. Today it is apparently used for various semi-legal events." Caliria explained.

"And we may find some certain stuff there, too." Samuel reflected.

"Possibly, it could be offered there in any case. The fighters want to get pumped up, for one thing, and party for others. One such is to be held tonight. I was able to talk my trusted dealer out of the slogan today." Caliria said. "The doorman will say, _rnycol,_ we have to answer, _hits aliens like ground glass_."

The Flophouse was about four hours from New Tuchanka, well hidden in a mountain formation of sandstone. If one didn't know the place existed, one had a hard time finding it; a single thin aisle, barely passable by the P-Nomad, was the access point. It was possible to park inside, but then one would be in the hands of the local power, criminals who could manipulate or destroy the vehicle. It was wiser to put the P-Nomad with its obvious alliance signs somewhere else. Varius took care of it, he drove the vehicle by remote control to a hopefully safer place and they covered the distance on foot. Before they entered this establishment, Samuel pulled his hood over his head, hiding his snow-white hair and plunging his face into shadow.

Three heavily armed krogans secured the entrance to the area and demanded the slogan Caliria was given. The team dressed neutrally and removed all insignia of Nexus or Alliance. They were allowed to pass and warned not to do anything stupid otherwise they would have caught a volley of bullets faster than they could say _ryncol_.

The team crossed the sandy courtyard between jagged high rock formations and followed a stream of other visitors moving toward one of the largest buildings. The good thing was that there would definitely be shade inside and it might be a little cooler than out here. On Elaaden, the sun never set and still some places on this planet had infernal temperatures.

Opening the gate to the building everyone was streaming into was like banging one's head against a wall of sounds, shouting, and a pot-pourri of smells one would rather not know the origin of. A corridor at first prevented the true extent of the atmosphere, before one entered a hall and was completely overwhelmed by impressions. Flashing lights twitched colourfully from the ceiling, wild paintings shone neon from the walls, on the right there was something like a betting office set up, were dozens of people stood. To the left along the wall was a long bar where alcohol was served overpriced.

Countless figures romped about, representatives of every species that could be found in the Andromeda Galaxy, one looking more dubious than the other, many standing around in corners, sitting at benches in the shade, having turned their backs on the broad masses, talking, exchanging things. Purest juggernaut of illegal activities probably. In one corner or another on a bench sat or lay figures who did not look as if they were still in any way responsive, in front of a person on the table lay several empty small colourful tubes. Apparently everyone didn't care that drugs were being openly used here, or they generously ignored this fact. Caliria explained that many semi-legal designer drugs were offered here, the real ones were of course still dealt in secret. Samuel felt almost instantly transported back to his runner days. He had visited such places from time to time in the past. Not that he missed visiting such holes.

"Okay, we're looking for a hanar, that shouldn't be too much of a pro-" Caliria was the last to enter the hall and stopped, she interrupted her sentence and pulled up one of the hornbrows.

Samuel gave her a sideways glance: "what did you just say?"

Varius stepped between the two and blinked.

"That's some jelly pile!" Trox growled.

In front of them, among humans, salarians, turians, volus, drell, quarians, asari, and krogans, dozens and dozens of hanar bustled about. Some of them stood together in groups and talked, others sat apart and had only a few companions of other species with them.

"I suggest we turn to those who are not travelling in groups." Said Caliria. "For the rest, the hanar calls itself Poison."

"What kind of name is that?" Trox asked.

"It's not a real name, it's an alias." Varius opined.

"Hmph, if I had known there were so many jellyfish around, I would have taken one of Talorian's paint guns, that way we could have numbered them all." Said the krogan, less than taken with the task of finding "their" hanar among the hanar.

"I don't think they would appreciate that." Said Samuel.

Troix shrugged. "Doesn't matter, we could tell them apart then. Fortunately, we only have one on board. How can they even tell each other apart?"

"The same way asari, turians, krogans, salarians and humans can tell each other apart." Said Caliria.

"Come on now, let's split up and ask our way through. And as inconspicuously as possible, please." Samuel ordered.

The team split up for a rough half hour in which everyone tried to get information in their own way. While Caliria melted into the crowd and Samuel and Varius also went into hiding, Trox trudged around giving evil looks to anyone who stared at him. He hated this kind of thing, he hated asking other people or even talking to them, making conversation, who did that? Ask through inconspicuously the boy had said and how was he supposed to ask through inconspicuously? He headed for the bar, pushing aside two humans who turned to him, grumbling. Since they were the size of Samuel times four, they were not instantly intimidated by the massive krogan who had squeezed between them.

"Yo, watch it, man!" Said one.

Trox ignored him at first. The boy had said 'inconspicuous'. As a korgan, one just had a different conception of this term.

"Yo, you deaf or what, frogface?" The other growled.

"Get lost, egghead." Trox groused at the balding human.

"What was that, frogface? Get the hell out of my spot, or I'll make your quad a duo!"

"He doesn't even have two balls!" The other, who had green hair, sneered.

Trox now slowly turned to face the bald human, while the bartender, a salarian looked around between the three.

"Hey, if you want to fight, get out of here to the pit, there's no fighting here!" He hissed.

Trox eyed the human: "what's the point of going to the pit when I can lambast this stinking pyjack right here?"

"Come here, asshole, and I'll fold you up!" The bald man spit and was already about to go after Trox.

But suddenly, out of nowhere, Samuel stood next to the two of them and intercepted the fist the much larger, stronger man had tried to send flying at Trox. The man blinked in puzzlement, then jerked his arm back and glared at Samuel.

"What do you want, buffoon?"

"This is probably the krogan’s bodyguard. Or his geriatric nurse, haha" The green-haired man scoffed.

Samuel eyed the guy for a moment. Heavy, muscular, aggressive, slightly intoxicated, possibly on drugs as well. The kind of guy you liked to avoid if you could help it. Which apparently was no longer possible.

"Hey, did you swallow your tongue, nipper?" The bald man asked.

"He probably wants to scare us, cute." Said the guy with green hair again.

"I'm just giving you two time to get along without embarrassing yourselves." Said Samuel calmly.

Of course, the two laughed at his words. The bald guy stood in front of him and looked down at him. It was usually no trouble to look down on him with his height, as he possessed the average height of a drell of 1.75 metres.

"I'll break every bone in your body, big mouth."The man ranted and a wave of alcohol and sweat blew into Samuel's face.

"You had your chance." Samuel replied silently.

He could just feel the green-haired guy behind him throwing his punch at him. The guys weren't even within range of the level he was on. He could predict their every maneuver. Samuel whirled around, grabbed the punching fist, took advantage of the momentum of the onrushing body and the body weight of the attacker, made him stumble and a residual help of physics made the man bounce against his buddy, dragging him to the floor.

Samuel stood next to Trox and watched the tangle of arms and legs of the two on the ground, cursing as they tried to get up. He noticed how Trox and the barkeeper looked at him in slight confusion, as if they hadn't really noticed what had happened and probably that was the case: the adept had been too fast, especially for his opponents in spite of that the implant hindered him. After the wannabe bruisers finally managed to get themselves sorted, they jumped up and wanted to attack Samuel and Trox at the same time, but at that moment an M-3 Predator was held against the temple and the back of the head of each of them.

A human and a turian, both armed, had appeared and admonished the two humans to behave, otherwise they would be expelled from the location. Apparently there was something like rules here after all.

"If you want to fight, go to the pit." Said the human guard.

"I said that earlier!" The salarian barkeeper snorted in annoyance.

The two guys gave Trox and Samuel withering looks, but then trolled off and the two guards disappeared.

"I would have dealt with them on my own in a heartbeat." Trox complained.

"I know, but we're not here to fight any idiots." Samuel reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll ask here." Trox looked at the bartender. "Hey, do you know a hanar named Poison?"

That was also the way to ask: openly and directly. And you wouldn't expect anything else from Trox. Samuel waited for the barkeeper's answer who replied in the negative and made it clear that he was serving drinks here and was not part of the information desk. Samuel left the bar and was about to walk towards a group of hanar, when by chance he heard a volus mention the name _Poison_. He complained loudly about being set up and said that he was waiting here for his assassin to finish Poison off. Wow, could one be so obviously stupid? Judging by the movements and articulation of the volus, he was mentally in other spheres, tight like a biotic god. He was sitting in a corner, surrounded by three asari, who were probably only following him because he was draped in jewels like a Christmas tree. Obviously a rich guy who liked to flaunt it. The two massive krogans sitting at the left and right ends of the bench were probably part of the "asari-host" package.

Samuel immediately made his decision: he switched to shadowrunner mode, now it was important to play the cold mercenary who only cared about the credits, then he walked towards the group. The two krogans stared at him suspiciously. The asari turned their heads, their looks not at all suspicious, but more of the wet dream variety, one even licked her lips and murmured softly. The volus looked at Samuel.

"Kchch, who by Cherk Sab are you?" He babbled.

"Where is Poison?" Samuel asked, making his voice sound rough, dark, and cold.

The volus seemed to eye Samuel for a moment and then bit. "Aah, finally, kchch. Hmpf, they said they sent a drell assassin, kchch."

"I'm like a drell assassin." Samuel replied. That was indeed the truth.

"Hm, kchch, alright, do the job quickly and discreetly, then I'll transfer! Kchch. Saw Poison heading t’wards the yellow loge in the pit area, kchch. Make sure no one suspects me!"

If at least a dozen ears hadn't heard what the guy was up to anyway, he had more luck than sense, but he probably had that either way. Samuel turned around and disappeared into the crowd. Now it was time to find his people and avoid being spotted by the volus or his companions. Locating Trox was not difficult, he was still standing in the same spot at the bar, drinking something that looked suspiciously like ryncol. Samuel passed him the information he had just received and wrote to Varius and Caliria, then left the bar again and headed for the second hall.

Caliria, meanwhile, pinged her position and wrote in the conference that she had found Poison, but he wanted a trade. Good news and bad news.

The second hall was no longer dominated by music, but by the noise of countless voices. The center of this space was a large angular depression enclosed by fences and metal plates, shone by bright light, that jutted toward the center in a manner similar to some stadiums, and were at the moment two krogans gave each other a good mauling, accompanied by a hooting, cursing, roaring crowd. Obviously, this was the fight pit.

Caliria approached the three men and led them up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and into a room whose door was half-painted yellow. She let them enter and then turned to a hanar sitting on a yellow couch next to a human and two krogans.

"These are your two men, Poison." She pointed to Samuel and Trox at these words.

The hanar's headpiece turned to face the three and eyed each of them. On Samuel, his unseeing gaze lingered conspicuously long. The two krogans also eyed the newcomers, looking like they would have no problem, and much more likely enjoy, bashing their skulls in. The human wore a battle suit of black and yellow leather. The head was hidden by a helmet. Who exactly he was watching could not be determined.

"This person heard that you are looking for exquisite merchandise and in particular demand source information." The hanar named Poison spoke.

"That is correct." Samuel gave Caliria a cursory glance. He wasn't quite sure what the turian had discussed.

"Harpy told this one that you and your krogan companion are excellent brawlers, you in particular would make an excellent fighter." Said Poison, turning to Samuel.

Samuel had a dark premonition. "What's your deal?" He asked coolly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Ah, a man who gets right to the point, very good.” A second of silence. “This person wishes you and your krogan companion to pit against two participants chosen by this person. Win that match, this one will give you all the information you need, and it may even be the basis for more lucrative things."

"No problem for me." Said Trox, also folding his arms in front of his armored chest. "Who do you want me to beat up?"

"And if we lose?" Samuel asked, looking from Caliria aka Harpy - probably that was her alias - to Poison.

"Oh, you shouldn't think about what happens if you lose. Losers ... lose a lot here." Poison replied.

Samuel was silent, looking from the hanar to Trox who was looking at him impatiently. He was more than ready. "All right, then. Who are we up against?"

Poison directed the two fighters to leave the lodge and go two floors below, to the preparation rooms where the pit fighters were gathering and waiting for their assignment. In the room they were taken to, there was no one but the two of them. Whether that was good or bad would be seen. Both warmed up a bit by shadowboxing and stretching. From outside, the call of a speaker announcing the next fights came in muffled.

"Ever been in a pit fight?" Trox asked.

Samuel replied in the negative. "It's not my kind of thing."

"Well, the first and only rule about is: there are no rules. Watch your opponent well and checkmate him faster than he can checkmate you. You're fast, so don't hesitate, boy. Got it?"

"Understood." Samuel nodded. He would take that advice to heart. "Is it redundant to ask if you've ever fought in a pit?"

"It is. On Tuchanka, I fought dozens of warrens and krogans. And as you can see, I always won." Trox grinned.

"There are no losers in such fights, huh?"

"Yes, there are, but you don't want to be one of them. Guess where all the organ donations come from that aren't registered."

Caliria and Varius, meanwhile, went to one of the spectator stands to watch the current fights. Varius' expression was petrified, his gaze icy, he seemed focused. Or rather massively tensed. Caliria watched him for a few seconds.

"Nervous, Talorian?" She asked, looking to the arena.

Varius didn't answer, his growl lost in the roar of the crowd. Caliria patted the other turian's upper arm unobtrusively.

"Don't worry, I'm sure your sweetheart will do just fine." She smiled inscrutably.


	39. Chapter 30: Pit Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trox and Samuel face their opponents: two brutal krogans who are certain of their victory. What happens after this fight has not been foreseen.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> THANK SO MUCH to Black_SPD_Ranger for helping me improving and correcting the fight scene!

When, after ten minutes of warming up, no one came to get them, no gate opened, and no one called them, Samuel knelt down, interlocked his hands as if to form a bowl, and closed his eyes. Now was the perfect time for meditation and attunement.

About three minutes later, the thick iron doors slid aside and a glare of light filled the room. The commentator's voice drifted in, the noise of the audience. Trox snorted, let his broad neck crack once, protected by the massive neck armor, and then walked out into the arena with Samuel.

"And here come the challengers, Nakmor Trox Ghurak and Sekhmet, two possibly promising contenders for the Blood Brawl title or else soon to be organ donors!"

Laughter, cheers, more laughter.

The commentator's voice blared from the speakers, praising the two "newcomers who dared to try to stand up to the _‘_ _T_ _error of Elaaden’,_ while the massive warrior and the slender adept, just graceful compared to him, walked towards the two figures already waiting for them in the arena.

Two krogan, one in green armor and one in gold turned at their opponents and began to grin mockingly, the one on the right began to laugh.

"What's that supposed to be? What am I going to do with that scrawny runt, give me a real opponent!" He shouted. People in the audience joined in the mockery. "This will be a short fight!"

Samuel remained silent, raising both eyebrows slightly under his hood. Getting into a fist fight with a krogan was not a good idea under the best of circumstances. But these weren’t normal circumstances. However, this information was important and the only way Samuel was going to get it was by performing in this contest. Woe to the hanar if he didn't come forward later with the information they needed. 

"Ha, should I take both of them, boy, or do you think you can handle one of them?" Trox was on fire.

"I'll let you know if he gets too heavy for me, Trox." Samuel replied.

He knew that back on Elaaden, during the mission, Trox had definitely witnessed how the adept had killed a krogan with only a few blows. Nevertheless, Samuel did not make the mistake - never, never make this mistake - of underestimating his opponent. No matter how he might look, how strong, how scrawny, how fragile, there was a reason he was fighting and had survived until now. Samuel turned his head to Trox who just nodded. Once the bell started he took a fighting stance and got ready. Trox just laughed. He knew what the adept was capable of.

Getting into a fist fight with a krogan was not a good idea under the best of circumstances. But these weren’t normal circumstances. However, this information was important and the only way Samuel was going to get it was by performing in this contest. Krogan looked down on him because of his size, but he was going to prove he was just as good as any of them. Samuel turned his head and smiled at his friend, Trox, and nodded. Once the bell started he took a fighting stance and got ready. Trox just laughed.

Two krogan, one in green armor and one in gold rushed at the two.

Gold went after Trox, but Trox’s training made him slightly faster than his opponent. Gold threw a punch which Trox ducked under and slammed his fist into his foe’s gut. He followed this up with a left uppercut and then a right cross, knocking him off his feet. The gold krogan roared and tried to throw a kick at Trox, who was agile for a krogan. He jumped up and away from the kick.

The green one had tried for a bearhug on Samuel, but Samuel ducked low and to the side. Once the krogan ran past him, he completely martial arts-less kicked him in the butt making the crowd burst in laughter. The krogan roared as he spun around. He went to rush at Samuel again, making a face when he noticed the elf wasn‘t at his place anymore when a moment later he was kicked in the head knocking him on his back. He immediately went after him, jumped on his opponent's chest and started to work on him with a lightning-fast fist volley that made the orange blood splash. Not a single sound was heard from the hooded fighter who seemed to have not the slightest problem to bring down a massive krogan fighter, slowly causing the crowd‘s laughter and derision to come to an end.

Gold had slammed his head onto Trox knocking him back. He threw a fist into Trox’s maw, but Trox came back with a punch to the krogan’s nose. Blood trickled out causing his opponent to try and snort it back in. He roared as he rushed at Trox again. Trox kicked him in the chest knocking him back before moving up and throwing a punch, knocking the krogan’s head to the left causing blood to fly out. The krogan fell to his hands and knees. He tried pushing himself back up, but Trox came up and kicked his foe in the gut causing him to roll on his back.

Samuel  had  moved faster striking the krogan. His silence as he fought made him scariereven to the crowd. He had hit several nerves on the krogan’s body causing him to stop fighting back. It didn't matter how big and how heavy an opponent was, in Seheron Nhaga  one learned very early  the  weak points, learned to use them, because the goal of this martial art was the quick and silent death of an opponent.  Clean, fast, deadly.

This fight, for Samuel, wasn’t even a back and forth battle. He dominated his krogan opponent, not really having time for this. The krogan stood there huffing,  spitting orange blood, unable to move, but unable to fall. Samuel jumped up again, sweeping his left foot hard, hitting the  g reen krogan in the jaw causing blood to fling out of his mouth and knocking him to his right.  The whole thing had lasted less than three minutes. 

Obviously,  view  had expected the fight to be over so quickly,  rather that the two krogans would finish off the newcomers and  scatter their bodies  around in the pit.  T he bloodthirsty mob had not reckoned with this outcome,  t herefore, there was almost dead silence for a few moments after the krogan s went down and did not get up again.

Trox held his fists up as the crowd  suddenly  started to complain or to cheer . Samuel breathed evenly,  closed his eyes after he had made sure his opponent wouldn‘t get up so soon.  H is lips formed a  unheard prayer,  thanking the drell deities . The n he  looked around. He didn’t want to revel in his victory, but he felt a sense of pride in himself. 

Samuel had not killed his opponent, whereas an orange pool  started to spread around the skull of Trox's.  S till in a blood frenzy he yelled intimidatingly and then grinned at Samuel. The crowd began to talk, to shout, to murmur, and finally the commentator had found his voice again. 

_ "That was an unexpected outcome, dear audience, what a surprise, who would have thought that two insignificant unknowns would defeat the  T errors of Elaaden  in almost  a child's play!" _

"Insignificant unknowns? Come down you, and I'll show you who's insignificant!" Trox  shouted , wiping blood from his face. 

Caliria, who was sitting next to Varius at the top of the spectator stands, applauded with the crowd and then looked at Varius, who had his gaze down and seemed somehow absent. She nudged him and grinned.

"Don't start drooling, Talorian."

"I'm not drooling." He growled. "But later on the Phoenix, I might challenge the  C ommander to some... _ private _ sparring." Now he, too, was grinning.

Trox came over and patted  the elf on the shoulder. "Way to go, kid!"

Samuel nodded at him. "You too though, impressive.“

The two made to leave the pit when the commentator's voice rang out anew.

_ "Ooh, I'm just getting word that another challenger is ready for Sekhmet, which means our mysterious  hooded fighter will have to stay in the pit for one more round!"  _

T he noise of the spectators swelled. At the same moment, the guards stopped Samuel from leaving the pit with hand signals. With a questioning expression he paused, looked after Trox who was pushed out and returned his gaze. He started to protest, wanted to go back into the pit, but was prevented from doing so and then the iron gates were closed again. Confused, Samuel looked after the krogan, what did that mean? This was not what had been agreed upon! His gaze twitched around, looking for Poison, looking for his two crewmembers, upstairs Varius and Caliria were sitting and were no less puzzled. 

Applause announced the challenger, who stepped out of the shadows of another aisle into the arena. Two red dots lit up, then Samuel's new opponent  approached.

_"And here is the Queen of Madness, bathing in the blood of her enemies and cutting out their organs with gusto, Sera the Blood Queen!"_

A female drell dressed in blood-red leather and wearing two razor-sharp  vibro blades strapped around each of her forearms  was the one with the name Blood Queen . The most striking thing about her was her eyes. They weren't black or dark like most drell's, but bright red, cyber eyes  which  glared wildly at Samuel  who raised an eyebrow. 

_"Ooh, our hooded fighter doesn't have any weapons, so he'll have to fight with his bare hands! This will be a very exciting fight."_

_No shit, Sherlock!_ Samuel thought.  He didn't have any weapons. He glanced at the gates, locked. Did he have any other choice? Apparently not. Escape seemed futile. 

Up in the audience stands, Caliria held Varius by the collar of his breastplate. "You can't go down there now, stay here!"

„Hope that _peutri_ ‘s gonna get killed otherwise I‘ll tear her apart.“ Varius snarled.

Varius stared  with heavily twitching mandibles into the arena, Caliria continued to hold him.  Spirit s, love-locked turians were really a nuisance sometimes. Yes, she was worried about Wolfsbane too, but trying to rush down there now was suicide.  Wolfsbane had to survive this now. She let herself be convinced to go down to Trox  to the prep rooms and wait there, that way they could get him out of the arena right after the fight. Varius had to promise her not to go crazy, no matter what happened now. 


	40. Chapter 31: A Deadly Combat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The following, unplanned fight demands everything from the adept, his opponent seems superior to him in her delusion - and he can't use his Ki powers for they are still blocked...
> 
> For the mood listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwXZio6cJs0  
> (Or whatever cool fight music you like :P)
> 
> Thanks so much again to Black_SPD_Ranger for helping me with the fight scene description - you're awesome as hell!!

The drell woman obviously had no use for formal greetings and rushed at Samuel at an insane speed. Samuel could do nothing but dodge, causing a surprised murmur among the crowd. Only a few people had trained their senses enough noticed how quickly the two had moved. One particular pair of eyes, however, was steadfastly glued to Samuel, following his every move. These eyes were the only ones able to do so. He watched him from one of the boxes, following the fight very closely.

Sera's eyes glowed and a maniacal grin spread across her reptilian features.

The fight was brutal and incredibly fast. Sera was just as fast, just as agile as Samuel who had to be hellishly wary of her blades. His advantage was that her mastery of the Seheron Nhaga was much worse than the adept’s. Still, she managed to hit him and give him a few cuts, but none of them were life-threatening. Samuel dodged jabs, slashes, kicks, while he tried to observe and analyze her. That was one of his gifts, to get to know the opponent in battle, to detect his or her weaknesses, in a flash. But she seemed to have no weaknesses and very little insistence on technique. She had let madness into her mind and followed no path he could discern. That was her strength, for now.

 _“Is that all? I thought we were in for a show! What a disappointment!”_ That damn commentator must be bored.

She threw hard kicks at him then followed up with a double blade slash. It would have been fatal against a normal person, but Samuel dodged it with speed. He then jumped into the air, made an acrobatic-looking somersault over the drell woman and landed behind her. He then threw a hard kick in the back. She stumbled forward and went down on her face. However, faster than Samuel could react, she had spun on the ground like a fish on land, jumped up, and rushed towards him, pushing him back. Samuel, still unarmed, quit parrying blows, instead went to dodging when hard metal wall stopped his retreat. Sera let out an ear-shattering scream and struck, but merely rammed her blade into the metal wall as he quickly dodged. Furious, she screamed a second time, trying hard to pull the blade out. As she tore at the blade, it bent, creaked, cracked, and finally splintered as it broke apart. Pressing a button, she released the broken blade, but Samuel did not waste any time. He struck her cheekbone and used a hard Seheron Nhaga punch combination tackling her to the wall to finish her off.

 _“What an unexpected turnaround! It seems our newcomer has some bite after all! I can hardly see his fists! What the hell is he doing with his arms?! Incredible!”_ The commentator shouted getting excited with the fight.

Sera seemed to completely ignore the pain of him breaking her ribs. In a flash, with her cyber eyes shining and her bloody mouth twisted into a vicious grin, she threw herself directly at Samuel with a loud, shrill roar. She knocked him to the ground, punching him uncontrollably as he brought his arms, wrapped in sturdy leather, up quickly, trying to protect his head. Unfortunately, he still suffered several severe cuts. He managed to grab her by the neck and shoulder, hooking a leg between hers and yanked her aside with all his might. She spat blood in his face, some getting in his white hair. She tore at his hood and even started scratching and biting. She had fully gone berserk. Samuel barely managed to get the lunatic drell under control. Shit, what kind of drugged beast was she?! He wondered.

Another combination of blows against her chest, faster than the naked eye could see, followed; causing the drell to spit blood again. She seemed to lose consciousness. Samuel wanted to use that moment by jumping over her body for a roll to get away from her, but that was a fatal mistake. Sera was completely delirious and drugs coursed through her system. So she was still thoroughly awake and grinning with bloody teeth as she struck at Samuel's leg with the remaining vibro blade at lightning speed. He cried out as the blade sliced his thigh, cutting sinew and flesh like butter. Blood splattered on the floor while he fell. The crowd roared with approval, a staccato that filled the room. Trox, Caliria and Varius cried out in horror as Samuel went down and the drell pounced on him. Trox had to grab Varius and hold him down as he made moves to open the gates and storm into the arena. He was completely out of his mind with worry for a few moments.

The two fighters started rolling around on the arena floor, a trail of blood trailing behind them as they rolled across the ground. Samuel's hood slipped off his head, revealing his face and white hair.

_“Oh, what a surprise! I thought it was a drell! Legends say only drell are so lightning fast. But, no, it‘s a human!“_

Sera finally sat on Samuel's chest when an immense test of strength had begun, their hands clasped as they pushed against the other’s strength. She had her blade in her right hand, pushing closer to his neck. Samuel tried to push her off and Sera wouldn’t let him. If Samuel lost, Sera would drive her blade deep into his neck and cut off his head. The pain had nearly robbed him of consciousness just a few milliseconds earlier. Because of this, Sera gained the advantage over him, allowing her to sit on top of him, close to killing him.

"I'm going to cut you into pieces and sell your organs, pretty human!" She squealed with a crazed look on her face.

The blade came closer and closer to his throat. Samuel gritted his teeth, breathing heavily as he said in his mind, _Arashu, I beg you, give me strength!_ He sent a quick prayer to eternity, then he did the only thing that would save his life at the costs of more pain and blood. He shifted his weight slightly and let the full force of her attack drive directly into his right shoulder, knowing the blade would impale him.

The pain was numbing, but this was his last chance. The blade penetrated his shoulder, eating its way through. It was hot as it moved through his flesh, just barely missing the bone, and started burning the ground. Sera cried out like a lusty cat, her red eyes widened, her grin hideous. It was not what she had wanted, but it was oh so acceptable, enjoyable even. _Now she would kill him. Now she would ..._

Samuel, holding a shard of the broken vibro blade, struck her with all his might. While not active, the shard still cut into his hand. At the same time, it struck quickly, severing the aorta at Sera's neck, slicing her windpipe wide open. Samuel sank the shard to the hilt, screaming in agony and determination.

Sera's ghastly red cyber eyes went off, her mouth remained open, but no scream was heard. Instead, she gave a wet gurgle, bloody foam formed in front of her mouth. Her breath became raspy and halting, her gaze going absent. Then the tension in her body slowly eased. Finally, without making another sound, she collapsed and sank lifelessly to the floor with her upper body beside him, showing some last convulsions.

Silence.

Samuel lay there, covered in blood, both his own and hers, panting heavily. He was sweating and trembling in intense pain. Wanted to scream out loud, but suppressed his own screams, doing his best to feel his heart beat. The bright lights of the floodlights dazzled him, making it hard for him to see.

Trox, Varius, Caliria held their breath, staring wordlessly into the arena. Varius's mandibles dropped in shock.

The arena had fallen silent for a moment. Samuel pushed the drell's body away, his face contorted in pain, as he suppressed another cry while sitting up. He pulled the vibro left his shoulder as he did so. He tried to stand up, but his leg was numb. He had to get up. He wasn't going to bleed to death here. But there was no way in getting up. He couldn't make it, shit, he just couldn't make it! His leg disobeyed him, causing him to crash to the ground. He gritted his teeth, screwed up his face, hanging his head.

Gasping, he propped himself up with his elbows from the dirt and blood smeared floor, wiping bloody strands from his sweaty face. The surroundings became surreal as his head spun. He perceived the voice of the commentator and the subsequent noise of the spectators as if through absorbent cotton.

_"Yes! Unbelievable but true, our newcomer Sekhmet actually defeated the Blood Queen! More than defeated! She won't get up by the looks of it! What a fight! What a spectacle! I can hardly believe it! And all hail to our new champion of the arena!"_

_Oh shut the fuck up_ , Samuel thought, as he fought the darkness of sleep calling at him. Was it sleep or death beckoning? He didn’t care. Samuel fought with what little might he could muster. He couldn't walk, so he tried to crawl. He had to get out of here. Somehow. Don't pass out. And the fucking implant… he would have it removed. _Fucking thing. Fucking thing!_ It almost killed him. He would have made short work of the Blood Queen if he had been able to concentrate his ki and use his true powers.

The gates opened and two figures immediately rushed into the arena like wild animals and were with him in a heartbeat. The krogan did not hesitate and took the slender elf directly in his arms, for him Samuel weighed nothing. Varius ran beside and was very upset.

"Boy, that was close, but, gotta say, really impressive!" Trox said. "However, your cover was abysmal-..."  
"Shut the _Buratrum_ up, run faster, he's bleeding to death!" Varius hissed at the krogan, panic resounded in his flanging voice.

Unobtrusively, a shadow broke away from the crowd and left the area, crossing the front hall without anyone taking notice of him. He had been watching him all along, had studied him in depth, his movements, his tactics, everything, and had seen enough. This second challenge had been one of many. He would put him through more trials, break him, his mind, his body, his will, rebuild him and lead him to the path that was the right one. But now was not the time. Silently the slender shadow disappeared into one of the shuttles that was taking off and left the Blood Brawl.

Samuel tried to stay awake. He was getting dizzier and dizzier as he continued to lose blood. Ceiling lights flashed past him, he heard the voices of his companions as if through headphones, pain throbbed in his shoulder and in his leg. Bright light finally dissipated the darkness when he was shifted to a hard, cold surface, a salarian bent over him, looked at his face, began to do something he copuldn‘t see. He cried out as hot pain ate through his shoulder, cried out again when the same thing happened to his leg, was about to jump up when Varius' face appeared above him, pinning him down.

He felt a cold hand take his left arm, tap a vein in the crook, then a quick sting, making him jump up again, but Varius spoke to him, putting a claw to his cheek, he looked so worried.

"Hold still, it'll be all right." He said to him. Or was he not speaking to him at all?

It didn‘t take long for whatever he had been injected with to work. All at once the pain was gone and he felt awake, the headphone sensation was gone and he could hear clearly again. A surge of energy rushed through his body, he opened his eyes and groaned in surprise.

Varius stared at the salarian who explained: "is a painkilling, stimulant drug, designed to keep fighters operational if they need to keep fighting. Not likely to be the case with him."

"Drug?!" Trox growled.

Samuel tried to organize his thoughts. Wrong. He felt exhausted and at the same time he was awake like hell and in a good mood, as if he had drunk too much. He looked at Varius. "Since when...are your colony markings...purple? Looks pretty."

The turian blinked in puzzlement. "It's still blue?"

Something about Varius' facial expression was so silly that Samuel began to laugh. "You look funny." He grinned.

Why did Varius' look like a colorful chicken? The color of his eyes and tattoos kept changing: blue, violet, pink, red, violet again. Shit, he was so high, what kind of stuff had the salarian injected him with? Trox asked exactly that question, but Samuel couldn't understand what the medical assistant was saying, he was talking way too fast. Or was he just hearing too slowly?

Varius asked Trox to check on Caliria, who had gone to Poison. He would stay here with Samuel until he had regained consciousness.

"Will take about ten to fifteen minutes, after that he should be back to normal – and probably collapse. But won't die." Said the salarian and then turned his attention to another figure lying on a stretcher and not moving.

Varius growled. He saw what the medic was doing and wrinkled his mandibles. Fighters who died here were obviously immediately recycled. He stood in front of Samuel in such a way that he didn't notice what was going on in the back of the room.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"  
"Awesome! Really...fan...fannnn....tastic." Samuel replied and began to giggle.

He actually wanted to get up but Varius held him down. "Don't get up. You need to rest for a moment."  
„I can get up, I‘m fine!“ The Elf protested.  
„No, you‘re not. Stay down.“ Varius commanded „Please, darling.“ It just slipped out of him.  
„If...if you... stay with me." Samuel mumbled, again dizzy.

Varius swallowed. Words like these were rare and he never said them when he was conscious. He sat down at the edge of the makeshift hospital bed and looked at the other man.

"Of course I'll stay with you." He said gently.

He gave a fleeting glance to the salarian, who was busy taking apart the corpse, giving a damn about disgusting noises of ripping flesh. He was glad he had stayed, the guy might have torn his beloved apart like a dead rylkor too.

He winced softly when he felt Samuel's hand reaching for his. He closed his three long, claw-like fingers around the human's hand and swallowed again as his heart began to leap.

A memory manifested in Samuel's confused mind: the volus who wanted to send an assassin on Poison. Should he have warned him and save him, thus making sure to obtain information and illicit goods in the future but but may face consequences from the Nexus or should he keep quiet and let the assassin do his work? This would eliminate a source that brought mischief. They would have the information either way and the Nexus would not ask any questions because there was no reason to.

He couldn't even think about it as hard as he would have liked and chose the renegade decision.

"Poison...there is...an assassin. A volus has set an assassin on him, Varius....tell him that."

Varius heard the words, saw Samuel fading and felt the grip of the elf's hand weaken. "Don't fall asleep!" He spoke softly.

He felt Varius' patting hand on his cheek, saw the turian's worried look.

"Mh, why...are your mandibles twitching so fast?" He asked a question, silly enough he would have never asked otherwise.  
"Because I'm damn worried about you, sweetheart. Necor elinus min." Whispered the latter.

He noticed how Samuel started to talk in this strange but funny dialect for he and his sister were from a country named Ireland as far es he knew.

Trox and Calria returned after about five minutes. Samuel was still awake and still in a drugged condition.

„We need to get him out of here without being seen. Is there any emergency exit?“ Varius asked the salarian.

"Not an emergency exit. More an exit for-…“ The salarian was harshly interrupted by Varius.  
„I give a damn what kind of exit that is, where is it?!“

„Down the hall to the left through the door, the bodies will be transported out that way." Said the salarian.

Caliria carried Samuel while Varius and Trox secured the corridor - one should never assume that security was guaranteed in a place like this. But no one bothered them, and the four were able to pass without a problem. Soon blazing heat and glaring sunlight enveloped them, entering some kind of natural backyard. The sandy ground was stained with blood that had long since dried.

"I'm calling the P-Nomad. Going to the Phoenix will take too long, I'll tell them to fly to Outpost Forward Station, we can reach it within 45 minutes, maybe less if I can make it." Varius informed, hastily tapping away on his omnitool. "P-Nomad arrival in three minutes."

Samuel didn't really know what was happening around him or what he was doing – or talking. He would still remember that he had been carried to the vehicle, but nothing more. The drug finally knocked him out as if hit with a krogan warhammer and darkness embraced his mind for quite a while. When he woke up again, he found himself on a hospital bed in a much more sterile environment, and a well-known asari was looking down at him very grimly.


	41. Chapter 32: Haunting Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consequences for decisions and the past that never seems to rest.

He realized that he was not in the Phoenix's infirmary, he knew that place well enough by now as one of the "regular patients." Dr. Ven'Tisa explained that he was in the Nexus infirmary. He had been brought here for proper treatment of his severe injuries for he had needed surgery. The asari was upset about which butcher had laid hands on him. She seemed very upset in general.

"You are under arrest for the next few weeks!" The medical officer’s voice sounded loud.  
"Please don't shout like that, my head is buzzing." Samuel screwed up his face, clutching his head.

"Serves you right. You almost died. **Again**!" The doctor hissed angrily, pacing back and forth in front of him and launching into one of her rants about how thoughtless he had been again.

Dr. Coralia Ven'Tisa was still very young for an asari, barely 200 years and was in the middle of her maiden stage: asari usually went through three phases within their life and Ven'Tisa was in the first one, which was primarily characterized by the desire to explore the world and by frequent restlessness and impulsiveness. This maiden phase was probably part of the reason why she was always so upset, but the behavior of the crew, especially that of their captain, was probably the main reason. If asari could get white hair, she probably would have it. 

"At lest we got important informations." Samuel sighed, looking at Caliria for approval.

"That's right. Poison came clean with everything after Trox threatened to tie his legs and play ball with him if he didn't talk." Caliria said. "He is extremely grateful to you, by the way, for letting him be warned about this assassin. He said he would not forget that and that he had given you a gift."

Samuel looked at her questioningly. She shrugged her shoulders. "He said it was a very valuable gift. Besides, he hoped for future cooperation." She smiled inscrutably. "So we have made a new contact in the Shadows, congratulations."

Dr Ven'Tisa looked from one to the other. "That still nearly killed him!" She looked punitive at Samuel. "I hope it was worth it!"

She left the sickroom for the time being to let the agents talk to each other in peace.

"I hope so too." Samuel murmured.

"Unfortunately, these were the good news, gaining Poison as a contact or even possible ally has put us at a crucial disadvantage: the Nexus did get the information, Poison has apparently personally come forward and entered into negotiations with the Nexus.” Caliria said. 

“What? He handed them over himself? That's odd.” Samuel reconsidered. “No, actually that’s actually typical. Poison probably demands immunity now." _Damn_.

“Correct, this hanar is obviously bolder than we thought. Anyway, APEX is urgently asking you to talk. And if I may translate that, it means they're sawing at your Commander-Captain chair because they don't like the fact that they're now in debt to criminals and want to continue upholding the image of a faultless, righteous community where everyone can be happy and is free.”

The sarcasm in the turian's words was unmistakable. Jarun Tann and the Nexus leadership were all not blameless citizens. Some who doubted Tann were by now convinced that he had definitely been an accessory, if not an accomplice, when Jien Garson disappeared and they also suspected that he had long been deeply involved in dark dealings. among these _some_ was Caliria Andrascus and Samuel trusted her. 

“Listen, Commander, whatever happens…” Caliria interrupted her words and fell into silence.

The door to the sickroom opened and Varius and Trox entered. The two of them wanted to inquire about their commander's condition and Samuel learned what he had not really wanted to know. Caliria began to grin as Trox and Varius told of how Samuel had flirted with her and asked if she wanted to go for a drink once the mission on Elaaden was completed.

"So? Is our date still on?" Caliria asked, amused.   
"Um..." Samuel blinked helplessly at her.

"Don't say no, you thought I was great on Elaaden and you said that I looked like a wild turian princess." Caliria seemed to be fully enjoying this moment.

"By the love of Kalahira.” Samuel coughed, couldn’t help but smirk a bit. “Okay, okay. I'll buy you a drink. Please don’t tell me what else I said or did." Hopefully nothing like this would ever happen again.

At least this lightened the situation for a moment, and that Caliria handled him two bottles of the angaran body oil he had asked for and wanted to give to Saraan as a gift.

A day later, Samuel, Samara Wolfsbane and Thantos Savallian arrived at APEX headquarters on Nexus with General Zirkin Sulbani. They were in a conference room, Samuel still clearly weakened and limping, but trying to hide this as best he could.

"The good news first: the information you sent us was correct, your source of information seemed to have kept its word, we were able to locate and root out several drug labs and traffickers, as well as a larger organisation on Elaaden, which will severely restrict the flow for the time being, good job for that, I admit it would not have happened so quickly without your energetic help. The bad news is that we have been told _how_ you got the information." 

Sulbani eyed Samuel. 

"It is not intended that members of the Alliance get involved in nasty pit fights and generally not desired that they engage in semi-legal or even illegal activities. In this regard, there will also be another conference regarding the CVs of your crew and probably also regarding your own CV. Nevertheless, since you have done a good job, I will put in a good word for you accordingly. For the time being, however, you are relieved of your duties as APEX Commander and Captain of the Phoenix, especially since you are currently of no use to the Nexus in your injured condition."

Samuel had the feeling of being out of his body. He felt the gazes of Thantos and Samara on him, toyed with the idea of telling Sulbani that without Poison's help they would not have got so much information, because the hanar, whether out of pure gratitude or because he had sensed a lucrative deal, had revealed more than he had been asked to. He remained silent, Samara, on the other hand, immediately took her brother's side and stepped up beside him.

"With all due respect, General Sulbani, I find this judgement very harsh and unjustified! Commander Wolfsbane risked his life to ensure that important information could be passed on to the Nexus, without his intervention and that of his crew members, the Nexus would still be fishing in the mud. I am well aware that his course of action was questionable, but given the circumstances, there seemed to be no quicker alternative, different approaches would not have brought such immediate results. The Nexus should honour the fact that one of its agents was so passionate about a common success, not punish him for nearly losing his life."

Samuel gave Samara a grateful look, she had put into words exactly what had been going through his mind, only much more tactfully, regardless of the fact that she was slightly upset. Sulbani had listened in silence, several times she had appeared to want to interrupt the emissary, but the red-headed elf had disarmed the salarian, at least it seemed that way. 

"I appreciate you standing up for your brother like this, Emissary. I also appreciate what Commander Wolfsbane has done for us, yet we cannot and must not tolerate success being achieved by illegal methods and with the help of criminals, the Nexus must remain vigilant and always set a good example." Sulbani declared, sounding like she was reciting some hackneyed clause.

"Had this mission taken place under different circumstances, there would be no need for such a discussion." Thantos suddenly spoke up, making sure the three looked at him. "If he had been assigned this mission as Spectre in the Milky Way, _no one_ would have asked how he got the information, but would have been grateful to have such a capable person among them." 

He sounded slightly irritated and that was...unusual.

"I have to agree with you, Lieutenant Savallian. But we are not in the Milky Way here. However, now that you have mentioned a Spectre, I would like to inform you about an innovation right away. First of all, it is announced that Lieutenant Thantos Savallian is being given temporary command of the APEX shadow team and its operations. Captain of the Phoenix will be Emissary Samara Wolfsbane, pending the arrival of the new provisional captain."

Now the three looked equally surprised. Sulbani continued to speak. 

"It has been decided that a new captain will be temporarily assigned to your ship, you will meet him in a week's time at the former Pathfinder headquarters on the Nexus and escort him to your ship. Captain Wolfsbane”, she looked at Samara, “please brief him accordingly then." 

Samuel raised his eyebrows slightly, Samara glanced at him before asking: "who is the new commander, if I may ask?" 

It was clear she originally wanted to say something else, probably shout at the general and protest again but she remained in her role.

"Tiberius Valen, a turian, former soldier and police officer who has been elevated to Spectre status in the Milky Way." Sulbani read off some data, then added, "at least that's what's known or suspected about him." She looked thoughtful as she did so. 

"I beg your pardon. What do you mean? _Suspected about him_?" Samara asked in confusion.

"His skills and knowledge indicate that he must have worked in this field, however, he is suffering from amnesia and his memories are gradually returning. We have tested him, he is an extrenely capable fighter, can handle every weapon and Since your ship likes to be called... Ship of Second Chances, he should be just the man for your crew." 

Ship of Second Chances. Yes, they knew of the Phoenix's reputation. But Samuel almost didn't care how they were thought of. The bird Phoenix, ever rising anew from the ashes, had not been chosen in vain.

"Then I am temporarily suspended?" Samuel asked in a composed tone.

Sulbani confirmed this. "You are an excellent agent, Wolfsbane. As soon as you are fit for duty, we will send you on missions again – non-threatening missions."

 _Non-threatening mission, pshaw!_ Samuel was still completely lost in his thoughts afdter ending the conversation and leaving the room, trying to process what he had just learned, when he heard his sister's voice, growling in a very unusual monotone after they were alone.

"For real? What the hell is this supposed to be? Are we a rehabilitation ship for questionable cases?!" Samuel gave her a look that ridiculed the question. "Oh, come on." She mewed. 

"We should be much more concerned about what happens when they start going through our data." Samuel sighed. "And when they realize that some of it...isn't true."

He left Nexus Operations and headed for the hangar to Computers on the Phoenix, the realm of the self-proclaimed “best decker in this and every other galaxy”. He entered the dark room of green matrix light with the scent of coffee and electric smog and the sound of some weird cyber-country music. The Frenchman was into that stuff, he liked a turian country singer in particular. Yes there was turian country. Jake Goodwin sat before a wall of holographic computer screens, a mere silhouette whose distinctive tousled hair was the first thing to recognize. 

"Not up for off-shore?" Samuel asked.

With a single twist of his cyber hand, Goodwin softened the music. View parts of his body weren’t cybered, he was more machine than human and Samuel what he was capable of. He trusted Goodwin when he said he could shut down the Nexus within a few hours and he would be cold-blooded enough. He too was a former shadowrunner, that’s why they where connected. Samuel saw the irony: one could never trust a shadowrunner but in this case one could only trust a shadowrunner. He could certainly fulfil that task.

"Oh, yes, yes, I'm getting off soon, just have a few things to do." He replied.

"Important things?" Samuel asked, knowing Goodwin would understand in no time.

"What can I do for you, Commander?" 

Jake turned his chair and looked at Samuel with his glowing cyber eyes that sometimes altered in colour. Samuel explained the situation and the problem that would now confront some of the Phoenix crew members. Jake was not exempt from this. Although his past was known, officially he was a rehabilitated criminal, there was still the risk that he could be legally confronted once again.

"I bet all my cyber equipment that they have other problems on the Nexus than declaring our crew priority one, until they discuss our case it will take weeks. Good for me, that means I have more time to launder all our people's CVs white as a sheet. I'm still going to have to call on all my skills and all my divine cyber power to get this done and it's going to cost favours and resources accordingly."

Samuel tilted his head slightly. "My and my crew's reputation is at stake, our future if you want to be dramatic about it. I don't...want to return to the shadowy times, but...do what it takes, Goodwin." 

“I will do whatever it takes, _Sekhmet_.” Goodwin called Samuel by his runner name.

“I wish there was an alternative.” Samuel sighed.

“You can get the runner out of the shadows, but never the shadows out of the runner.” Said the decker thoughtfully. 

It seems he was right. Unfortunately.

He really didn't want to get back into the old rut, back in the shadows it was always about favours, illegal activities and how best to cover them up. He would also have preferred to be able to present an impeccable CV with legal activities as a prime example of a commander, but that was impossible. He would never have come to the Keelah Si'yah if he had not created an alter ego with the help of Thantos and Samara, as a shadowrunner he would probably never have come to Andromeda for he had not existed in the normal world, so to speak: 

_A shadowrunner was a so-called elite criminal. When conflicts arose that could not be solved by legal means, the corporations, governments, wealthy individuals, and even organised crime subcontracted their dirty work to deniable specialists - deniable was a vital term. If something went wrong, everyone denied the existence of the person who had been hired. They moved outside the structured corporate world, outcasts, risen from the streets or abandoned by society, a former, supposedly "better" life. This united them all, no matter what they did in the shadows. Very seldom did people become shadowrunners because they were content with their lives, and no one handed themselves over to the shadows wanting to be a benefactor._

_They were criminals, all damn criminals. He had been nothing else but a criminal. His past had been criminal, riddled with blood, corpses, the quick credits that could be earned by moving boxes of questionable contents from A to B with no questions asked. More credits could be earned by murdering someone. Wet work was even more dangerous and even more lucrative. Eat or be eaten. He had done many terrible things without conscience. He had lived in this world, it had been his reality. Samara had had choices he never had._

_Here in Andromeda he had wanted to free himself from that past for good. Now it seemed that the past could never be completely shaken off. It beckoned to him, again and again by different missions, decisions, acquaintances and situations like this. Maybe it would have been better if he had gone to Tann and confronted him with the truth. He would probably end up in prison, but maybe he would be rehabilitated. Or maybe he would continue to live a partial lie. How much longer did he want to do that? How deep into the shadows did he want to go again? Actually, he didn't want to ever again. Too many things lurked there and wanted to pull him back into the depths._

Samuel left Jake's realm, absorbed in his thoughts. He had a lot of free time from now on, what was he going to do with it? Samara probably expected him to be there in a week when this new captain came on board. Maybe he would do her that favour, otherwise he had every confidence that Thantos and she would sort things out.


	42. Chapter 33: Strange Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel meets Saraan again and tries to stay objective for there are important matters to discuss. At least that’ what he thinks but Saraan secretly disagrees. And you will meet “Mee-woo”! :)

He was tired. He was always tired, because he never slept well. In the past time Saraan appeared very often in his nightmares. He was worried about the angara. As he often did, he called up the private terminal to see if there was any news.

All at once the languor fell from him. A message had arrived, from Saraan!

_"Dear Samuel,_

_I am sending you this message to tell you that I am alive. I heard you were worried about me. I am also sorry that I could not be on the Phoenix for your human celebrations. I felt fit enough, but Healer ja Varuhn demanded I should not leave the infirmary until I was out of pain._

_Thank you for assisting me in getting my cousin away from the Roeshaar. He is on his way to Havarl to join a rehabilitation program._

_I miss you and I hope to see you soon._

_Your friend  
Saraan de Kanos"_

Samuel closed his eyes after reading the message and took a breath. _I miss you and I hope to see you soon_. Wow. These words were more overwhelming than he had assumed. Saraan was well again. He had survived the critical time. A stone fell from Samuel’s heart. He somehow felt stupid to be so relieved but that was probably a normal reaction. Still he didn’t like all those emotions. He couldn’t handle them. It was Varius’s fault he was like this by now.

" _Shukren_ , Gods." He whispered.

Now he knew what he would do in the next few days as he realized that he had missed the angara just as much.

Samuel stood at the door of the house where Saraan and his family lived and felt almost as nervous as when he had first come here with Saraan. Before coming here, he had contacted Garuhna, who had invited him to the same evening. The door of the house opened and a pair of very large curious eyes looked at him.

The wearer of those eyes was not 90 centimetres tall and peeped: "Oooooh You are not an angara."

Samuel tilted his head a little and raised an eyebrow, but smiled thinly: "true."

Behind the angaran child, a female angara appeared and looked questioningly at Samuel, who returned the look in the same manner. Hesitantly, he explained that Garuhna had asked him to come here, when he spotted her in the corridor, running up, eyes beading with joy.

"Samuel!" She exclaimed, pushing past the other two angara and hugging the elf unabashedly.

Samuel supressed a moan of pain for he was still injured. He returned the hug hesitantly, happy to see Garuhna.

“Thank you for coming, Samuel!” She said.  
"Thank you for inviting me." He replied in his polite manner, indicating a bow.

Garuhna smiled profoundly and asked Samuel to come inside the house. He followed her and he in turn was followed by the angaran child and the other angaran woman who was probably a sister, cousin, aunt or otherwise related to Garuhna. Samuel was sorry that he could not remember all the faces and names, Thantos would have had no trouble with his eidetic memory.

Garuhna led the elf through the house, past countless family members who were greeted politely and who watched him curiously or even sceptically, until they had reached the room that led to the terrace with its beautiful garden.

"Saraan is back home and he doesn't know you are here." Garuhna now revealed her secret to Samuel.

Samuel looked at her a little surprised and said shyly: "he doesn't know? Then...perhaps he wishes to be left alone."

Garuhna gave him a warm smile as she said, "I wanted it to be a surprise." Seeing Samuel's doubtful look, she added: "I'm sure he will be very, _very_ happy to see you."

She eyed Samuel, who still looked a little indecisive.

"Well, go on, he's sitting out by the pond. ... Believe me, he'll be pleased." She gave him a gentle push towards the patio door. "Well go on!" She giggled softly.

Samuel took a few unsteady steps, looked at Garuhna once more and returned her friendly smile shyly, then stepped out onto the terrace and turned towards the garden. Garuhna stayed in the house, but she wouldn't have missed this meeting for the world, so she hurried into the room with the best view of the pond, crept to one of the windows, made herself comfortable there with a pillow under her arms and watched what was happening outside.

Saraan sat in the grass near the pond by his favourite tree and watched as a gentle evening breeze touched the dark water, creating soft ripples. He listened to the silence that reigned in a certain sublimity in this garden, interrupted only by the soft lapping of the water and the whispering of the wind in the trees and plants. With his eyes closed, he could perceive the sounds even better and the scents of the grass, the flowers and the forest of Aya, which was always a little sweet.

But what didn't fit at all with the familiar sounds was suddenly this soft clearing of the throat that immediately made him open his eyes and look around in amazement at the voice that had caused this sound. Thunderstruck, he stared at Samuel for a second, then his heart started to rejoice and he was filled with such joy that he jumped up.

"Samuel!"

Saraan sounded so happy, almost euphoric, when he recognised the human with the white hair, the extraordinary eyes and the pointed ears.

His voice was soft, calm, clear and its almost inhuman depth with this distorted overtone made it incomparable and so beautiful to Samuel's ears. He flinched a little as the thought flashed through his mind: he loved that sound so much, that voice. He had moved silently across the grass out of habit and was now standing about three metres away from the other, three meters Saraan closed in a heartbeat.

"Excuse me, I...hope I don’t bother..." He wanted to apologise for disturbing Saraan, but that didn't seem necessary or possible when Saraan caught him and hugged him tightly.

"You never bother me." The resistance fighter spoke friendly.

Samuel couldn’t do anything about feeling the warm tingling sensation again as he returned the hug. He closed his eyes and exhaled softly as a feeling of bliss flooded him. It had been a good, no, the best decision to come here. However, Saraan's embrace was so tight that, without knowing it of course, he irritated Samuel's wound on his shoulder and a brief pain made the elf contort his face and hiss softly, freeing himself from Saraan who let go of him.

He asked anxiously: "are you hurt?"  
Samuel confirmed. "Yes, but it is healing well."  
"What happened?" Saraan wanted to know.

"An unequal fight." He said nothing more about it, smiling wanly, "anyway, it means I now have more free time than I had planned."

Saraan showed a slightly unsettled smile and actually asked, "then..you have more free time for me, yes?"

He was not unsettled about the question, but about whether Samuel would want to spend his free time with him.

"Y-yes, you could say that. If that's what you want." Samuel answered slightly sheepish.

"Yes, I do." Saraan's cat eyes seemed to light up even more at that moment.

Samuel laughed softly, trying to cover his embarrassment. "Forgive me for laughing, but..."

Saraan looked at him questioningly, a look to melt away. Perhaps he had better not tell the amiable angara when people used the term "yes, I do".

"I like it when you laugh, it makes you even more attractive." Saraan said in his angaran directness.

Samuel felt himself blushing, he still couldn't cope with the angaran way of communication and openness.

Garuhna almost grinned from one jinesh end to the other when she saw them like that. She sighed happily and propped her chin on her forearms. Ghovaan, brother of Garuhna and Saraan, stepped up to the window beside his sister and looked out.

"I have been watching you, _bosora_." Said Ghovaan. "You want to pair them up, don't you?"

Garuhna grinned wider. "I don't have to bestir myself, Ghovaan."

She pointed towards Saraan and Samuel.

"I've been watching both of them. Seen how our dear brother looks at the human, how Samuel looks at Saraan, see the endearment ins our bother’s eyes? The two of them are so in love with each other! But Samuel is far too shy, too controlled, too eager to suppress every emotion and too insecure and that in turn makes Saraan so very insecure."

"You saw all that?!" Ghovaan asked in great amazement and his sister nodded in bliss. "I think this alien is very nice too, but I don't know if it will be good for Saraan to get involved with him."

"I don't think anything could be better for him, Ghovaan." Said Garuhna. “They are meant for each other, I’m sure. Fate led them together!"

"Now you're getting very prophetic, you'd better leave that sort of thing to the Moshae." Ghovaan said doubtfully.

"To be honest, I am also visiting you because something strange happened on Voeld." Samuel announced.

"Something strange?" Saraan looked at him questioningly.

It occurred to Samuel that Saraan might now think he meant the implied kiss in the infirmary and to clear up this misunderstanding immediately and not even get into the embarrassment of having to deal with this subject, he quickly continued.

"Yes, in the Roeshaar camp we discovered these strange gold-plated weapons consisting of a pole and a blade."

Saraan immediately gave the name of this weapon. Actually, it should not be surprising that he knew his way around perfectly for he was a professor of archaeology, xenoarchaeology and history. Obviously he had already studied those objects.

"They date from the time of the first Angara, I was able to date them quite accurately. Surprisingly, the cube I discovered on Elaaden can be placed in a similar time period." He explained.

"The one you risked your life for." Samuel said, sounding a little cooler, probably out of habit.

In any case, Saraan gave him a reproachful look, but without saying anything about it. Samuel continued to ask, temporarily putting the actual topic aside.

"What exactly is this cube?"

"According to my research, this cube and the one I discovered earlier in a cave here on Aya are part of a collection whose number I have not yet been able to determine. I reckon there are at least six cubes in total, but there could be more. Or fewer." Saraan explained.

"Hence the pedestals in this side room of the repository." Samuel concluded

"Affirmative." Saraan nodded.

"Do you know what purpose these cubes serve?" Samuel asked.

He had previously thought about addressing the fact that Saraan had simply risked his life for some inanimate objects without knowing what they were good for and had decided to remain objective. It was time to clear his head anyway. Besides, he didn't want to cause any resentment by possibly offending Saraan.

"They represent a kind of, mh, key, I suppose. They belong together, anyway, as part of a whole. But where to put them, where to possibly insert them, I don't know. I want to go to Voeld again soon and see this strange ruin."

Samuel had to realise a moment later, however, that he was simply unable to skip this topic.

"And put yourself in danger again?" He asked in a subtle provocative way.

When Saraan suddenly looked as if Samuel had offended him after all, he regretted his words, but before he could apologise, the angara took the floor.

"There will be no danger, the ruin is safe now." He said with an inscrutable expression.

Samuel did not like that expression. "I didn't mean to attack you, I'm sorry. I when I heard your sister’s report I... was worried you would die." He said softly, startled that he sounded so emotional by his standards.

Saraan sensed this instantly and wanted to react instinctively by tenderly stroking the other’s cheek with one hand. But he restrained himself. No, he couldn’t do that it might be wrong. They were friends. Just friends. Though he felt this wasn’t really true.

"Really?” He smiled causing even more embarrassment in Samuel. “I have survived worse, don’t worry.”

They looked at each other, a moment passed in which nothing happened and yet so much.

“Of course.”

Samuel remembered what he had originally wanted to talk about and above all not to sink into an overwhelming atmosphere again. So he called himself to order and returned to the actual topic, the vision. At first, Saraan seemed as if he had woken up from a daydream, but then he listened with focus.

The eye-like bulges above the cat's eyes of the angara lifted as Samuel told of the experience that occurred after he had touched the weapon, of the vision in which he had seen the white angara.

"Moshae Nohvala Reefen said it could actually be...a vision." Samuel said, looking uncertainly at Saraan, who was literally staring at him with interest. "She said that you were the expert, though, because you were familiar with the ancient history of the Angara."

"I am.” He affirmed and added thoughtfully: “a white Angara. Hmm." Suddenly something seemed to occur to him. "Come with me."

He grabbed Samuel by the wrist, pulling him along so that the elf had to hurry after him, for Saraan took long strides to leave the garden. He hardly got questioning looks from his family members, apparently it was normal seeing Saraan rushing through the house like an inventor who has just had a brilliant idea.

Saraan led him through a door and down a surprisingly long staircase. About 30 steps later there was square room with three doors. Saraan chose the door on the left and entered, Samuel following him. He looked around in amazement after entering the room.

"Wow, you've set up your own little museum here, huh?"  
"A passion I have been pursuing for a very long time, yes." Saraan replied.

He stopped in front of a display case containing exactly such a weapon that had been found on Voeld, while Saraan went to a console and began to search through digital archives.

"Are you just allowed to keep antique items in your house?" Samuel wanted to know.  
"For research purposes, yes. I usually take them back to the museum." Was the answer.

 _Usually_. That sounded like: if you take an orc cab – a cab with an orc driver, found in the less pretty areas of Seattle - you usually arrive safely and on time. Orc cabs were famous or rather infamous for driving like the devil, giving a damn on road traffic regulations. But: they were on time. Usually.

Samuel left it at that and began to look around. He was surprised to discover something from Earth he was very familiar with: a katana. It lay on a mount of fine, dark wood, the tsuka-ito, the hilt band, was purple. The blade itself was smooth, gleaming steel, a beautiful masterpiece of an expert smith.

Samuel looked at the weapon reverently, not noticing that he was being watched. Not by Saraan, who was busy researching, another pair of eyes were staring at him from amber eyes. Samuel felt the gaze just as he had wanted to give in to the urge to remove the katana from its base. He squinted to the side, turned his head and their eyes met. He blinked in irritation as he looked into the most foul-mouthed flat face of a Persian cat. Was it real? Or stuffed? It didn't move an inch. Samuel cautiously reached out a hand to the animal - and flinched when it hissed loudly at him.

"Mee'woo!" Saraan said in an admonishing voice. “You should not hide inside here.”

The fat cat continued to stare at Samuel, now looking even worse tempered. It glared at him in the way only a cat could look at someone, either saying: what are you doing in **my** house? Or: you are not worthy of my divine presence.

"It doesn't like me." Samuel stated matter-of-factly.

"Mee'wo is a very headstrong animal. My sister Vahna had suggested calling him Chazre, or Evfra, because, as she said," he put extra emphasis on _/she _, "he seems as bad-tempered as the two de Tershaav, but I was against it."__

Samuel looked at the animal, which scowled at him.

"I think Chazre would have fitted very well too." He mumbled this more to himself, yet Saraan could understand it.

"How rude." He said, though Samuel could clearly see that the angara was smirking furtively because he must have secretly agreed.

__“Mee-woo, what does that mean?” Samuel asked.  
“Oh, it’s the sound he makes. At least it sounds like that.” Was the simple explanation.  
“Oh, of course.” Seemed legit._ _

__Mee-woo meowed in the very same moment, a very deep and very grumpy meow._ _

__"I think he smells Tiberius on me." Samuel reflected.  
"What is a Tiberius?" Saraan asked._ _

__"That's our, um, Andromedarian Space Dachshund, a breed of dog. At least I think so."_ _

__"Ah, oh, a dog?” Saraan looked at Samuel._ _

__“Uhm, yes, this is…” okay, how to describe a dog to an angara? “Also an animal from Earth.” _Wow, you don’t say, Sam.__ _

__If he now started to explain that Tiberius, being a dog, was descended from a wolf, he wouldn't get anywhere, because Saraan probably didn't know what a wolf was either._ _

__"It's best if I show you Tiberius sometime." He decided with a thin smile._ _

__“Oh, yes, why not?” Saraan nodded. “And why wouldn't Mee-woo like you because of Tiberius?"_ _

__"Well, on Earth it's one of those things between cats and dogs, you know." Samuel said, watching the cat begin to preen. "When two are like a dog and a cat to each other, it often means they can't stand each other to death."_ _

__"Ah, I see." Said Saraan. "I think so, anyway." He had paused to investigate. "Why don't dogs and cats like each other?"_ _

__"That's one of many great mysteries. Presumably they would if given the opportunity to get to know each other. What you don't know, you often fear. And enmities can arise because of...the lack of such a small step as getting to know each other."_ _

__It struck Samuel for the first time what a deeper meaning this trifle with the dog and cat had just acquired. Saraan looked at him as if he was thinking the very same thing at that moment._ _

__"What you don't know, you fear." The angara spoke calmly._ _

__He now turned completely away from the console and slowly took a few steps towards Samuel. Every movement of the tall man was fluid like a cat. Samuel noted with fascination that Saraan moved almost entirely silently on his hand-like feet. So smooth, so elegant and so strong and proud at the same time, just beautiful. Damn, he was starting to daydream again._ _

__"That's right, it's...a primal fear. You're afraid of the unknown because you're...afraid it might be bad." Samuel affirmed._ _

__"You know why we angara are so suspicious. Especially of aliens. Why some of us hated and fought aliens." Saraan looked at him inquiringly._ _

__"Yes, I know. And I understand that. But someone back on earth once said: _the best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them_." Must have been Ernest Heinngway._ _

__"I trust you, Samuel. I have said this before. And I mean it."_ _

__Samuel didn't know why he got goosebumps at the angara's words._ _

__"It...is an honour." He said a little hollowly, not quite knowing how to respond again._ _

__Saraan noticed this and smiled in his gentle, friendly way. "Still so formal." He murmured, creating a strange feeling in Samuel._ _

__Again he didn’t dive into that ocean of things he feared but struck up another line of conversation again and came back to the reason they had come down here. Saraan, of course, noticed that absolutely. The human still didn't want to deal with his feelings, which Saraan found regrettable and somehow couldn't understand. But Samuel had his reasons and Saraan did not want to press him, not now. But ... he had long since read Samuel and noticed more than he might have wanted to._ _

__

__Mee-woo_ _

__  
_ _


	43. Chapter 34: Fragmented Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel and Saraan dig up fragments of the Angaran past and Samuel is struck by another vision.

"Much of the ancient knowledge was lost and could not be recovered. All we know today is based on the fragmented texts that have been found, the rest is conjecture and speculation." Said Saraan.

"This is how legends, myths and fairy tales are born." Samuel commented. "The emergence of the Scourge destroyed much of the ancient knowledge and technology, I have read."

Saraan nodded. "That is correct, I'm afraid. The appearance of the Scourge ruined the angara's worlds and sent their civilization into a pre-industrial dark age that lasted a century, however, as you can see, we have since recovered and are very technologically advanced."

"Yes. The appearance of the Scourge reminds me of the so-called crash on Earth, my home world. That crash destroyed entire civilisations and ruined economies and politics back then, but also ensured that a new global network was born."

"Almost every destruction also holds a re-creation." Saraan mused.

He returned to the console and started searching again. Typing with quick fingers he sifted images and chapters of various entries until he seemed to have found what he was looking for. Samuel, who was watching him, was fascinated by the fact that Saraan with his hand structure could type as fast as someone who had five single fingers.

He looked at Samuel and then pointed to a picture, enlarged it with a spreading of his hands. It was a very old-looking painting, Samuel recognised the figure of an angara in strange clothes carrying a staff in his left hand.

"Savu'Savaan." Saraan said. "This is an image of Savu'Savaan, the so called White Prophet."

Samuel gently raised an eyebrow, tilted his head a little and examined at the picture. There was something about it. Something - familiar? The clothes matched the clothes he had seen in his vision. He noticed the angara had no black eyeballs and no pupils but maybe that was just an element of style: perhaps the painter had simply refrained from painting pupils and black eyeballs, or perhaps this angara actually possessed white eyes? Saraan called up a digitised ancient text, fragmented and written in a language Samuel's omnitool could not translate.

"I tried to translate the text, or rather the fragments of what had once been a complete text. It was difficult and to this day I am not sure if it is correct, as many passages can be interpreted in different ways. Also, some words have completely different meanings. Here, for example."

He chose a passage of the text written in a foreign language. Samuel could not explain why he got goose bumps when he heard the angara speak like that, beautifully modulated forming the words, accompanied by the sound of his extraordinary voice all angara possessed: the slight accent, the distored subsound, that deep and dark color – okay, probably he could explain his reaction very well and Saraan’s voice was special, at least that was what Samuel was thinking. He did not notice how he stared at him, spellbound, Saraan blinked at him, for he had noticed that very well and therefore fighted a grin.

"Wow." Samuel whispered without noticing his own reaction. "That sounded...really fascinating."

Saraan thought he understood what made the human react like that and was amused by it.

"Mm, yes." He nodded, somewhere else in his thoughts for a moment before turning back to the text. "Anyway, it says," he looked at Samuel again, "at least that's one version of it," then looked back to the text and translated, " _a warrior like Starlight, who wielded his weapon against the Ancient Enemy._ "

Samuel nodded gently.

"But," Saraan continued, "it can also mean: _a dancer from the stars who was brave enough to guide us to a better fate_. Above all, it is about a great battle against a powerful enemy.“

"Sounds adventurous." Samuel agreed, looking at the picture again. "What else does the text say?"

"Would you like me to read the story?" Saraan asked, looking both surprised and delighted.

"If you don't mind." Samuel replied.

"I don’t mind at all! It's a narrative, I was busy translating, in fact it was one of my first works as a professor." Saraan looked proud. "Sit down."

He pushed Samuel towards the sofa, claimed by Mee-woo, the Persian, who made a face and stared at Samuel indignantly: such bottomless impudence, no one sat on **his** sofa! But that was just the way it was. For that he tried to stare Samuel down who actually felt a bit uncomfortable.

Saraan returned to the console and made a few dapper waves of the hands as he explained that he had converted the images to holograms for a better view while the originals could be found in the Repository of History. Samuel watched him, supported his head on a hand and smiled gently, Saraan was so passionate about his work, it was obvious.

„It is not complete, many parts are lost but I can tell you what I know.“ The professor said.

_Savu was the son of Vohoonan, chieftain of an angaran clan from Elaaden and Novaandi, an orphaned princess from Voeld whose body was all white like the snow of Voeld, her eyes shone bright like the stars with no black or blue color. Some were afraid of her extraordinary beauty and said she was an enchantress who had passed her heir to her son for he was also all white with white eyes. The couple separated when Savu was six, and Novaandi took her son back to Voeld but he soon returned to his father while Novaandi stayed._

_When Savu was 23, Da’shokaan, the Havarl paramount chieftain, called up Savu’s age group for military service. For the next six years, he served with brilliance as a warrior of the Empire._

Saraan paused, then he said: "from here on, part of the story is missing, next Savu'Savaan is mentioned in a battle."

_But after a time there came dark days in the history of the Angara. Dark and silver hordes swept across the sky and land and waters and carried all before them. The people could hardly expect to resist the invaders, for their warrior king, [name was destroyed], had profaned the word of the Gods [foot note from Saraan: maybe the Jardaan?], and, in the form of a [unknown word, foot note from Saraan: probably „herald“ or similar word], was fulfilling his punishment. Their armies were weak and scattered, and the conquerors marched on in triumph._

_As report after report of disaster reached Ahaya, the people trembled for the safety of their fair land. Warriors gathered hastily for the defence of the nation, and all waited for the enemy to appear._

_Fiercely they fought, but numbers told against them. Foot by foot they were pressed back, till they stood on the border of the path to the Fortress of Light, where they made their last stand. But it was to no purpose._

_The warriors almost despaired as they saw their numbers dwindle more and more against the dark enemy. They cried out, "what can we do, we are lost!"_

_[another parts is lost of the story]_

_Savu'Savaan, however, stood there with his weapon raised high against the dark enemy, and white and light fought blackness and darkness, and he, too, might almost have given up, but he and all those whose hearts he had been able to strengthen succeeded in driving back the dark enemy and saving the people from extinction._

"There is not much left of the story." Said Saraan at the end. "But we do know that a great angaran warrior named Savu'Savaan once repelled a powerful enemy or at least inspired and motivated the angaran army to a last powerful strike for freedom. Only a legend, but there is more truth in it than suspected."

"Where did this battle take place?" Samuel asked.

"That has not been handed down, but much suggests that this Fortress of Light must have been on Voeld or Aya. I now suspect that it is the ruins we recently discovered on Voeld." Saraan answered.

Samuel looked at the painted picture of the white angara and noticed again that he was holding his weapon in his left hand. Lost in thought, he leaned back on the sofa, placing one arm on top of the back of the sofa. He hadn't noticed that Mee-woo had taken up residence there meanwhile and was still giving him constant evil glances. When the impudent alien then tried to put his arm on him, it was the last straw, Mee-woo hissed loudly and jumped up angrily, wanting to pounce on Samuel, who, completely confused and scared for a moment, reacted instinctively, grabbed the cat out of the air and threw it back onto the sofa.

Mee-woo jumped onto the floor, growling and with his fur puffed up, and ran away. As he did so, he knocked over a small glass cabinet that had been carelessly placed next to the sofa, the cabinet began to sway, tipped over and shattered on the floor along with its contents. Mee-woo was so startled by the loud noise that he violently bit Saraan's hand, who had grabbed him, and then ran away.

Samuel had jumped up and looked after the cat running away, then he saw that Saraan's hand was bleeding and saw the shards and splinters on the floor. The object in the cabinet, whatever it might have been, was destroyed.

"I....I'm sorry!" He said as he saw Saraan's expression, which seemed exceedingly concerned, more about the destruction of the relic than the injury.

"It's not your fault. Mee-woo is an unseemly, vile little creature." Saraan said, looking for something to stop the bleeding.

Samuel, once again noticing angaran blood was blue, activated his omnitool to apply a small dose of medigel to the angara's hand, which he grabbed without thinking. Saraan watched the elf, looking at his face without him noticing.

"Still, he probably wouldn't have been so upset if I hadn't been so careless. I’m partly to blame that what had been in the cabinet is now destroyed." Said Samuel. "That should be enough. I hope he didn't pass any germs on to you."

Samuel looked up and now noticed Saraan looking at him. His heart seemed to pause for a moment as his eyes looked into those of the angara. He did not notice that he was still holding Saraan's hand, but Saraan did not pull his hand out of Samuel's grip either.

"I don't think a bite like that should do much damage to someone like me." Saraan smiled.

"Of course." Samuel replied, letting go of Saraan's hand and lowering his eyes in embarrassment.

Together they removed the splinters from the cabinet, Saraan paused to look at the relic in his hand that had broken. It looked like part of a larger stone structure, perhaps some kind of wall covering, with strange linear patterns. He looked thoughtful.

"Strange. This looks like...like what I had stored was just a shell. There must have been something inside."

Even as Saraan made this remark, Samuel saw a tiny object peeking out from under the sofa. He would probably have missed it if the light from the ceiling lamp had not refracted on the metallic surface. He crouched down and reached for the object, wanting to draw Saraan's attention to the fact that he had found something, but he could no longer speak as a flash flashed through his mind and the next time he looked around, he was no longer in the angara's private mini-museum, but in a room he was completely unfamiliar with, with stone walls that all had the same pattern as the fragment that had shattered on the floor.

_Startled, his gaze flicked to two angara who were in this strange room with him. They were wearing clothes that definitely could not have come from the time the angaran civilisation was now in, he saw, although their backs were turned to him, in front of one of the walls. Suddenly, however, they turned and seemed to be looking at Samuel. One rushed towards him and he backed away, hands raised in defence._

_"I'm sorry I didn't mean to trespass!" He said, horrified about the fact that he couldn’t see the angara’s face at all for it was just brightest light._

_A shudder came over him as the angara, however, simply walked through him and to a door through which he cast a worried look._

_"Hurry, they are almost here, we must return to the others." Said the angara to the other._

_Samuel looked from the one who had spoken to the other who was still standing in front of the wall and realised that he was holding a small metal object, a kind of key. He pulled on various parts of the key and it fell apart. Quickly the individual parts were placed in bricks and locked before being added to the masonry. Now completely invisible and impossible to find unless one knew where they were and that they were there at all, the key fragments were left behind. The two angara grabbed their spear-like weapons and stormed out of the room. Just as he looked after them, the scene blurred and darkness fell around him._

He was still in the miniature museum when he came to and saw the faces of Saraan and Garuhna supporting him. He was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, he realised.

"Samuel, Samuel, how are you?" Saraan asked.

One could actually see fear in his beautiful gleaming eyes, that alone triggered a queasy feeling in Samuel after he slowly got his bearings. What on earth had happened?

"You just went down and were unresponsive." Said Garuhna.

He had been unconscious? Again? Fuck.

"How...how long was I out?"

"Several long moments, you seemed in a trance." Said Saraan. "You came to after I took the object from your hand."

He held the metal plate between his fingers. Garuhna was ordered back upstairs by her son's shouting, but Samuel was in the best of hands after all, as she still said with a smile before disappearing while Saraan helped Samuel to his feet and gave him something to drink.

"I am sorry for causing you such trouble." Samuel apologised after standing and accepting the water gratefully.

"Trouble? Oh, not at all, worry yes, but trouble no." Saraan replied, leaning a little towards the elf and adding a little more quietly, "when you're around, though, it's definitely never boring."

A soft, furtive smile followed, which Samuel could do nothing but return. Then he remembered what had probably been responsible for temporarily throwing him out of the here and now and he sat up.

"The key!" Saraan looked at him in confusion, Samuel continued, "The broken stone slab, there was a key in it, or rather part of a key, I saw..." he faltered. "I saw it."

"What did you see, Samuel? Describe to me what you experienced!"

Saraan looked at the elf attentively, even sat down close to him and began to stare like a cat, like Mee-woo but not in the same hostile way. His curiosity was obviously aroused and he wanted to know everything, so Samuel began to tell him about the strange vision.

Saraan was looking at him incessantly and in such a hypnotic way that is was hard for Samuel to completely focus on his report.

On the other hand Saraan now liked to look at Samuel, to watch him, because even though he was an alien, he was fascinating and beautiful and graceful in an almost otherworldly way. His former self, the Roekaar he had once been, would never have thought so. And the Roekaar of old would have vehemently resisted the very thought that an alien could be part of the reincarnation beliefs of the Angara religion. But so slowly the thought grew louder in his mind.

"So the stone slab is part of a wall that is full of these lines and symbols." Saraan pondered, looking at both the broken stone and the key fragment.

"I don't know, I just told you what I...what I saw." _Saw. Not another vision, but it must have been so._ "Where did you discover this stone then?"

"I think it was on Voeld, if I remember correctly, and it was about eight years ago. It was by chance and I wasn't on Voeld for research at all, but because I," Saraan paused and glanced at Samuel, "was at the time with other Roekaar and the Gloryseekers going against an Initiative station to destroy it."

Saraan briefly gave the impression of drifting into those old times, his expression darkening as gloomy memories tried to burrow to the surface. Samuel, who had sat down on the sofa, did not know how to react and decided to remain silent. He changed his decision, however, and asked cautiously:

"Would...you like to talk about it?"

Saraan looked at him and shook his head gently. "Some other time." He replied. "Now is not the time to dig into the past. Not my personal one, anyway."

He looked at the object and Samuel kept looking at Saraan. He didn't like that he had had another vision, he didn't like that he had visions at all. Why him? Why was he seeing things from the angara's past? What did he have to do with it? He was a former street rat from Seattle, an elf with a dark past who had somehow managed to become someone, an agent of the APEX organisation, a member of the Initiative. Yet he still struggled with his past, felt the after-effects of life as a shadowrunner every night, in every nightmare.

Slowly, a familiar horror returned to his limbs, making him sink back into the sofa. So that vision could be fresh material for new nightmares. He didn't want to have any more nightmares; he was barely sleeping through more than three hours a day at a stretch by now.

"The vision of Savu'Savaan, now the vision in which you apparently saw two temple guards hiding something - and you are an alien. How can it be that..."

Saraan began to walk up and down the room, Samuel watching him, his hands folded and bent forward. He straightened up again when Saraan sat down beside him on the sofa and held the object out to him. At the elf's questioning look, Saraan commented curtly.

"Touch it again. Perhaps a vision will happen again, perhaps it continued."

Samuel looked at the key fragment and tensed. "I...don't want anything to do with it, honestly." He replied quietly.

At least once per dream he saw the white angara since the incident on Voeld. He did not want to meet any more creepy, inexplicable elements. Saraan looked at the white-haired human with the pointed ears.

"Nothing will happen to you, Samuel. I am here." He spoke softly, so softly that Samuel felt a tingling inside him.


End file.
